


Of Suspicions and Support

by Seaward



Series: Of Galaxies and Gifts [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Stargate Atlantis, The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, Alternative Pronouns, Canon Character of Color, Canon-Typical Violence, Cultural Differences, Don't copy to another site, Gender Issues, Grey-Asexual Character, Identity Issues, M/M, NaNoWriMo, Spirit Animals, nonbinary pronouns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 01:28:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 54,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17356397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seaward/pseuds/Seaward
Summary: Simultaneous threats from outside and within Atlantis leave Spencer searching for answers and ways to help. Ronon and their newfound family are under threat even as they find unique ways to support each other and their larger community.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is completely from Spencer Reid's POV but there is little else from Criminal Minds. As an AU, this splits off from Criminal Minds in 2012 and is set in 2013. Finally, I don't know how to thank Elayna enough for proofreading and support as this became a series neither of us ever expected. Thank you!!! All remaining mistakes are mine.

_The librarian went to return an out-of-place book in a section dedicated to an almost extinct language. A gap at the spine of the misplaced book caused nen to pull out a second copy, to read the pages stolen from the first. The missing pages might instigate another crime. They also might lead the criminal to a quick death in open space, because the author was most likely insane._

_Still, a criminal had stolen from the great library. Something old and worth protecting had been damaged beyond full repair. Such a crime must not go unpunished. The book itself suggested where the criminal could be found._

#

Glass walls, or whatever the Ancients used for the Commander's office above the Gate room, did nothing to mute the blare of alarms. As Spencer followed Woolsey out from their early morning meeting, Chuck called, "Unscheduled off-world activation—and the shield isn't activating."

"Was there an IDC? Any communication?" Woolsey asked.

"No, looks like a backdoor in the programming," Chuck said as he worked frantically at his Ancient console. Lights in the console echoed lights in the vertical pillars that reflected off smooth floors that never needed polishing. All the subtle reminders of living in an alien city crowded in at a time like this, especially when Spencer could do little to help.

"Notify McKay," Woolsey ordered as he strode across the upper level.

At the same time, Chuck was saying, "I've notified McKay."

Spencer stayed out of the way by the far railing as he radioed Ronon, "We have an unexpected dial in and the shield's not working."

"On my way already." From Ronon's breathless reply, his bond mate's morning jog had already turned into a full on sprint.

Sure enough, Sheppard and Ronon burst into the lower level of the Gate Room sweaty and wearing running clothes just as the Gate opened.

Four Marines targeted the Gate with P-90s. Sheppard took the spare side arm from the one nearest him. Ronon pulled his blaster, because seven years as a Runner meant he even carried it while jogging.

A warrior in metal chest plate, shoulder gauntlets, and long armored gloves came through firing, a double barreled pistol in each hand. Two more followed behind, one with similar armor, one gun, and a shield. The other wore leather armor head to toe and carried a larger shield and sword.

The Marine to the front right of the Gate fell to the first shots fired.

The invader in leather took a bullet to the side.

Ronon's blaster took down their leader in a flash of light.

The third held a shield at an odd angle, almost parallel to the floor a few steps out from the Gate. Sheppard shouted, "You imagined you could lock us out of Atlantis?"

There had been reports of returned Ancients from a battleship called Tria locking the expedition out of Atlantis. Those had mentioned a new console rising in front of the Gate, but even internal reports hadn't specified the exact location or other details. Spencer wondered if Atlantis had been fully bonded to Sheppard at the time of that invasion and guessed not. The analyst also wondered how these outsiders learned about that console and how to bypass Atlantis' Gate shield.

Muttering words Spencer couldn't hear, the warrior holding the small shield scrambled to partial cover behind one edge of the Gate while firing haphazardly. The Marines on that side shifted to fire without hitting the Gate or their allies across the room.

Spencer pressed against a bend in the wall, unarmed and trained to take cover. He clamped down tight on his Guide gift for sensing others' emotions, leaving only his connections to Ronon and his family.

Chuck and most of the others on the balcony had ducked behind their consoles. Someone pulled Woolsey down with them even as he shouted, "Cease fire and surrender. You are greatly outnumbered."

McKay's voice came over the comms, "Cutting power to the Gate. This means no dialing out until we reboot."

The enemy leader who'd appeared down for the count, rose up enough to shoot Ronon. Spencer felt the Tracker's pain and surprise through their bond even as his bond mate fired again, blaster clearly set to stun, or there would have been no coming back from the first hit. After a moment of blinding pain and anguish, Spencer tamped down his bond to Ronon enough to let himself think. The terror and anger that remained were his own. Remembering to breathe, he pushed himself back to a work mindset.

Sheppard and the uninjured Marine on his side of the Gate leapt forward to cover and secure the downed combatants. One of the Marines on the other side shot out the knee of the remaining invader then ran forward to knock away the pistol and stomp the small shield to the ground as the other Marine covered him.

With all three invaders down and the Gate closed, Spencer called medical as he rushed downstairs to Ronon. "Medical to the Gate Room. We have at least two of ours and three others shot."

Despite the waves of pain and threatening loss of consciousness Spencer could feel from his bond mate, Ronon staggered over to Sheppard who was securing the prisoner Ronon had blasted twice. "She's Satedan. At least the weapons and armor are. Meant to diffuse Wraith stunners, guess it works on my stun setting, too."

"You don't recognize any of them?" Sheppard asked.

Ronon had his right hand applying pressure to the wound on his left shoulder, so Spencer moved to his right side, ready to offer whatever support was needed.

"No," Ronon shook his head, and Spencer felt it swim.

Looping an arm around Ronon's waist and bracing his body from the uninjured side, Spencer said, "Why don't you sit down until medical arrives?"

"They're here," Ronon said, a moment before the doors opened and most of the infirmary staff poured in with gurneys.

Beckett, Cole, and Marie headed straight for the two unconscious bodies on the ground in front of the Gate. Biro looped behind to deal with the invader who'd been shot in the knee. Juarez and Lokusay came to Ronon.

After only a moment's inspection with an Ancient hand scanner, Juarez pulled out a pressure bandage and ordered Ronon, "Lie down on the gurney."

"I can walk," Ronon said.

Spencer was opening his mouth to protest when Lokusay said, "Is that really the example you want to set right now?"

With a huff, Ronon's face softened in a way only their adopted family could inspire. He allowed Spencer and Lokusay to help him lie down.

Sheppard spoke over his shoulder, "We'll debrief in the infirmary. This whole lot's ending up there anyway."

#

It took less than a minute after they entered the infirmary for Juarez to cut away the front of Ronon's running shirt and position him under an Ancient device with tubes and pinchers. "Local anesthetic only, I know. Not going to have time to take effect before the start of this. I'm sorry."

Lokusay gently pushed Spencer around behind Ronon's head as nen brought out a tray with squeeze bottles and gauze. Both nen and Juarez changed gloves before they cleaned the wound. "Hold very still." The moment the pressure bandage was removed, blood started flowing freely again, and Ronon gasped.

Spencer placed his hands to either side of Ronon's head and tried to send reassurance through their bond.

The Ancient device zeroed in on the main source of blood as soon as Juarez guided one of the tubular arms in close. The spurting stopped. Juarez and Lokusay cleaned the area again and then used the Ancient hand scanner before checking the readout on whatever specialty device had stopped the worst of the bleeding.

At that point Doestossay and Sawasay, their two other adopted family members, or "pinta," rushed over. Lokusay sliced a hand through the air in a way that diverted them to stand behind Spencer. Doestossay clung, but Sawasay only stood close and asked, "How bad is it?"

"Under control now." Juarez looked around the infirmary, clearly hoping to consult a doctor at this point.

It was only then that Spencer noticed the controlled chaos around them. Six hospital beds were occupied, three with the invaders in restraints. Beckett, Cole, and Marie had already started surgery on the first Marine who'd been shot. With two doctors involved, it looked pretty serious. Spencer shuddered as he realized that Ronon had been only a few feet away and could have been in that man's place.

Watching Sheppard try to approach the invader in leather armor only to be yelled down by Biro who was preparing to operate, Spencer was glad this problem was clearly military and not in his purview as Atlantis' Consulting Detective. With the leather helmet removed, Biro's patient looked no older than the young people he and Ronon had welcomed as family only a couple months ago, and who now crowded around them.

Seeing every other doctor or medic was busy, Juarez said, "As soon as the local takes effect, I should be able to stitch you up. I'd say Lokusay shouldn't be involved as family, but—"

"I'm fine. We don't have such rules on Shan Mal."

"Sateda didn't either," Ronon said with strength Spencer could tell was faked only because of their bond. "It's another Earth hang up. Go ahead and stitch. It's numb enough."

"Could someone tell me what happened?" Sawasay cut in.

Spencer's gifts connected differently to each member of their new family, and Sawasay projected the least emotion. Right now, Spencer was barely picking up irritation from nen, but it didn't show on nen face. Although their three pinta claimed to have been born simultaneously, destined to become a cluster, Sawasay looked oldest, with military posture and scars showing against deeply tanned and weathered skin. Nen had shorter, lighter hair, and stood taller than Lokusay, who hunched over nen work in official Atlantis infirmary scrubs, or Doestossay, who shivered against Spencer's arm in a loose tee shirt and sweat pants, radiating his fear of losing another family member and loathing for his own perceived weakness. Spencer removed one hand from Ronon so he could loop an arm around their adopted son.

As Juarez prepared to suture he said, "Two gunshot wounds, right next to each other, through and through. No bone damage, minimal muscle. But one nicked an artery, which could have been fatal without Ancient tech or immediate surgery. As it was, we got him here in time. The tear in the artery was tiny and is now completely sealed. The rest is clean with no sign of debris. I'll stitch the wound closed, and wait for a doctor to give official aftercare instructions. But I'm sure they'll involve plenty of fluids and rest. Now keep quiet or I'll send you all to the waiting area, even if you think that's just an Earth hang up."

"Naw, Sateda had waiting areas at the hospital." Ronon didn't even flinch as Juarez made the first stitch. "Couldn't always get people to use them."

Spencer ran his thumb along Ronon's cheekbone and held Doestossay close. He kept quiet and let Juarez work. Despite feeling Ronon's initial pain and later wooziness, he hadn't realized how close they'd come to losing him. Again. It was only luck that the fight had ended so fast with few enough injuries that Ronon had been seen to immediately.

Ronon sent reassurance through their bond even as his wound was being stitched closed. Spencer swallowed hard and set aside his dark thoughts. He tried to project calm and gave another quick squeeze to Doestossay. Their once touch-phobic pinta had turned out to be just as tactile as Spencer with people he trusted. Spencer bumped his free shoulder against Sawasay, who rolled nen eyes in what appeared to be a universal rebuff. But then nen leaned against him slightly, and he was glad they were all together.

#

It wasn't until a couple hours later that Ronon was deemed sufficiently hydrated and ready to leave the infirmary, fitted with a sling.

"You want a try at the Satedan leader?" Sheppard asked. "She won't talk to the rest of us, and the other two are still unconscious."

Ronon stood tall, blaster once more at his hip as he walked across the room. Spencer and their pinta moved back toward a wall with chairs. They sat beside McKay and Teyla, but they could still hear the conversation across the quiet infirmary. While everyone understood, due to Gate translation, Spencer had studied enough to recognize all the words they spoke in Satedan.

"Are you truly from Sateda?" Ronon asked. When there was no answer he added, "I am Specialist Ronon Dex, and I demand parley if you are of my people."

The woman sneered from the infirmary bed where she was strapped down but raised to a near sitting position. Her armor had been removed, but she had no visible injuries since she'd been taken down by two blasts from Ronon's stunner. Finally she spat out, "I am Jobara Tolaz, Satedan Planetary Forces Unit Leader. I owe no parley to the traitor who shot Kell in cold blood."

Spencer felt guilt and loss through their bond, but Ronon showed only righteous indignation with his solid stance and squared jaw. "Kell was the traitor. He commanded thousands to their deaths to cover his escape, wasting their lives when they could have struck down more Wraith, saved more of our people."

"You shot him dishonorably, outside combat, years later. No win without honor."

Teyla stiffened in her seat, and Spencer sensed she knew more about the event in question. No one else in the room seemed to notice.

"In front of his remaining soldiers, who were offered the chance to kill me if they disagreed. Not one deemed him worthy of such vengeance." Ronon stood feet apart, head up in defiance.

"I would gladly kill you." Jobara's brow wrinkled and her fists clenched, but she was strapped down with restraints strong enough to hold a Wraith, probably because she'd been seen to revive so quickly from the first stunner blast.

Spencer whispered to McKay, "Is someone studying their shields and armor?"

McKay glanced up from the tablet in his lap, "Why?"

"Ronon said the Satedan armor probably diffused his blaster the way it was designed to diffuse Wraith stunners. Also, the one with the smaller shield held it at an odd angle above where I'm guessing the Ancient console to shut down or switch control of Atlantis is hidden. Sheppard stopped that somehow, but these people knew how to disable the Gate shield, and they clearly knew more than anyone outside Atlantis should." By the time Spencer finished his hushed summary, McKay was busy sending instructions from his tablet, and Ronon was speaking again.

"I spared your life, despite your attack outside of combat on my allies, including civilians."

"We came to claim the City of the Ancestors, which is our birthright as their most advanced allies."

"In your dreams," McKay spoke loudly enough to be heard, even as he tapped away at his work.

Ronon snorted. "These people are their blood descendants, and more advanced in many ways than we were at our peak."

Jobara nearly shouted, "You are no true Satedan."

"I am Satedan." Ronon took a step forward. "I had to find my own truth after Kell betrayed me. I saw my fiancé killed and a hospital filled with our people destroyed because I was not left the means to defend them. The Wraith made me a Runner for seven years. Still I found ways to defy them and eventually allies to help me fight them."

"Kell saved hundreds, including my wife and son." She looked to the two beds beside her where the other woman lay completely still, but the boy was blinking groggily. Juarez now stood by the boy, checking his readings. "Our family preserved the teachings of the Satedan people until we could claim this sanctuary and rebuild our society. Reclaim, return, restore."

"Based on a three-person invasion?" Ronon shifted to bring his hands to his hips but the sling kept him from moving his left arm.

Sheppard shifted against a wall. One hand on his sidearm the other resting on an Ancient console, but he didn't interrupt.

Raising her chin Jobara claimed, "Kell would have supported us if you had not divided and scattered his forces."

"He would have betrayed you eventually. No society he helped build could be worthy of the name Satedan."

"How dare you!" She shouted. "You use a foreign weapon, wear foreign clothes. Even your rank mark is corrupted."

At that Ronon leapt forward as if to attack the immobilized woman. Beckett stepped between them. Juarez tried to calm her son who was now fighting his restraints. Ronon growled.

"I have adapted, but I have a voice. I teach Satedan stories, even our language. You could have approached Atlantis as allies or refugees. Why attack?"

"You are careless with your truth. Why should I tell you anything? Why should anyone trust such a deceitfully camouflaged creature. A traitor once, a traitor twice and again."

#

Back in their apartment, Lokusay ushered Ronon to the long couch. He lay down and let nen prop him up with pillows, bring him tea, and generally fuss over him in ways he never would have allowed anyone else.

Doestossay ended up on the floor beside Ronon, where his head rested against Ronon's ribs. When Ronon set down his tea, his good hand landed on Doestossay's shoulder and stayed there.

Spencer hovered nearby, wanting to help or at least be close to Ronon, but trying to balance everyone else's needs.

"Do you want to watch a movie or listen to music?" Doestossay asked Ronon.

"Maybe later. Tell me about your greenhouse project."

Doestossay looked to the man who'd adopted him, someone he didn't call father or parent but treated as one in every other way. "How often do you almost die?"

"A lot less than I used to. Odds must be pretty good at this point."

Spencer bit his lips to not explain what was called the "hot hand fallacy" on Earth. In reality, subsequent outcomes were independent of each other. But he knew that wasn't what Doestossay needed to hear. Their son soaked up Ronon's reassurances the same way he sought physical contact. Whereas Doestossay had once refused medical care if anyone but his bond mates had to touch him, he now liked to crowd up close to any member of their family or sometimes even his mentor, Parrish.

"Come on, tell me about all the new berries you're growing," Ronon prompted again. And Doestossay did, starting with the lightest, white-yellow berries and proceeding through the red and purple varieties.

Sawasay took over in the kitchen with a big soup pot. The only dish nen cooked without help translated as "rations round up." It was basically a soup or stew made with whatever was lying around the kitchen and spices from nen home planet that made most Earth chili seem mild.

After a detailed description from Doestossay of four new berry varieties and their relative merits, Lokusay whispered to Spencer, "Would you be up for visiting the spirit plane to act as my listener?"

Spencer didn't want to shirk that responsibility, but it was hard to let Ronon out of his sight at the moment.

Having clearly heard with his enhanced Tracker hearing and felt Spencer's unease through their bond, Ronon said, "Just lie down where I can see you. We'll all still be together, even if you two are also on the spirit plane."

Lokusay quickly unfolded their other couch, which was more like a futon anyway, so they could both lie side by side in easy sight of everyone else.

"Tell me more about the greenhouse," Ronon prompted Doestossay. "I like stories about food."

"You better be prepared to eat what I'm making you," Sawasay called over the kitchen counter.

"Always," Ronon answered.

Spencer stopped to brush his lips across Ronon's in the softest of kisses. Lokusay kissed Doestossay on the top of this head and then fondly mussed his hair. Then Lokusay and Spencer lay down to meditate as Doestossay told about the wonders of programmable irrigation and weeding bots.

#

The spirit plane Lokusay met Spencer on was darker than usual. Angry gray clouds chased across the usually bluer than blue sky. Nen spirit animal circled overhead, looking especially primeval—like the pterosaurs Spencer had once imagined lotuks to be. A cold wind blew through blueish green trees.

Spencer asked, "Do you control the temperature here?"

"You could too, or just imagine yourself warmer clothes."

Spencer imagined two warm, fuzzy blankets and called his spirit animal, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. The blond and white ferret appeared immediately and scampered up to wrap around Spencer's neck, like a furry scarf.

Despite the multiple layers of clothing Lokusay favored and had recreated faithfully on nen spirit form, nen was shivering. Spencer spread one blanket on the ground and wrapped the other around his back, with plenty held out on one arm for Lokusay. "Come, sit with me, and teach me to be the listener you need."

Once Lokusay was curled up beside him with the blanket tucked warmly around them both, nen said, "Did you read the Satedan story about the two healers with different gifts? Ronon hasn't put it in the public collection yet, but he sent copies to Juarez, Beckett, and me."

"I read it while practicing my Satedan," Spencer said.

"Well, the healer with spirit gifts is clearly like Juarez. He exudes calm without even trying and sees everyone's spirit animals, so they could totally bring him to someone in need." Lokusay sounded both admiring and sad. Spencer thought he knew where this was going, but he let nen tell the rest. "And Beckett seems to know how everyone feels and how to comfort them even without touching, but there's definitely the touch-based gift to draw away pain and help others focus their own healing where he guides them."

Lokusay curled up tighter against Spencer, a ball of gangly teenaged limbs pulled so taut that nen almost shivered even though it wasn't cold within their blankets.

Spencer rubbed one hand up and down nen arm and waited.

"But my gifts can't do any of that. I'm pretty sure all I can do is connect to my cluster, sometimes talking with them, sometimes acting in each other's place. But that won't help me as a healer. How can I work with Juarez and Beckett and ask them to spend so much time training me, when I know from the start I'll never be as good as either of them?"

"Do you think Juarez could be as good of a healer as Beckett?" Spencer asked softly.

"If he wanted."

"But you say he has totally different gifts, and you know he spends part of his time training as a soldier instead."

Uncurling a bit to argue Lokusay said, "I know everyone makes different choices about what to learn and how to spend their time, but even if I do my best, I'll never be able to do some of what they can."

"And what if one of your bond mates was in a situation where someone needed CPR or stitches? Could Beckett or Juarez put themselves in that place to give instructions or take over?" Spencer wasn't surprised that Lokusay stayed just as tense, but his ferret decided in that moment to climb across and nuzzle beneath nen chin.

Lokusay sighed and petted Rikki. "I guess it makes sense for one of us to train as a healer, but that doesn't help me to be a better healer."

"I don't see it as a competition. Most of life is about what skills and knowledge each of us brings to wherever we are. For a long time, I was told that I missed normal social cues, spoke inappropriately, and failed to show empathy. Now my gift helps with the empathy, although I'm still fine tuning that. Before, I studied a Facial Action Coding System based on observing 46 different facial muscle movements. I also learned about body language and tells to better understand people's motivations and when they were lying. As an analyst and later a Consulting Detective, I may not have had the same skills with empathy and social cues as others did, but what I could do was useful. Sometimes I could contribute when others couldn't, sometimes I relied on others to catch what I missed. Gifts are simply more of the same. Part of why I want to educate other Lanteans, at least a little, about gifts, is to help each individual and our community develop as fully as possible." Spencer didn't specifically address his issue with speaking inappropriately. He had learned to control his rambles more over time, but in this case, he hoped his lengthy explanation would be well received.

"The others listened in on that," Lokusay told him. "I hope you don't mind. Sometimes it happens when I find something especially interesting."

"You found my ramble interesting?"

"Yes." Lokusay giggled and sagged against him. "You don't happen to have a copy of that facial coding system, do you? One of the others wants me to study it."

"I'm sure I can get a copy, and thanks." Spencer squeezed nen shoulder.

"For what?"

"I worried I wasn't qualified to be your listener, but if you actually found what I just said interesting, I'm really glad you chose me."

They stayed silent, cuddled up in their blankets for a few minutes as the sky on the spirit plane brightened and the lotuks above them happily played in the shifting air currents.

Then Lokusay startled and jumped up. "Oh no! I invited McKay and others to lunch today. We have to tell Sawasay."

#

McKay arrived at their door with Sheppard in tow just after local midday—what most Lanteans recognized as a lunch hour. "Are we still invited for lunch?" McKay blurted as he stepped inside.

"Definitely," Lokusay greeted them. Ronon was still sprawled out on the couch with Doestossay now practicing Satedan. Sawasay was in the kitchen, and Spencer was setting the table. "It's nothing fancy, just soup and cheese bread."

"Melted cheese bread?" McKay asked with a hopeful glance toward the kitchen.

"I made it myself," Lokusay said.

Sawasay rolled nen eyes where only Spencer could see.

"Carson can't come today because of all the new patients in the infirmary," McKay said as he kicked off his shoes and claimed his usual place at their dining table. "But he was glad I was taking Sheppard away so he'd stop glaring at the patients. I'll catch Carson up later on what we discuss."

"Are we discussing something in particular?" Spencer asked. It had seemed the natural question given McKay's words and tone. But the scientist's sudden stillness and quiet proved Spencer had made some social misstep.

Sheppard claimed his usual chair and sprawled so his elbow pressed against the nervous Sentinel. "With McKay, it's always about something in particular. The surprise is in which particulars he's picking at that day."

"All those words, and yet you say so little. Quick, 407, prime or not prime?" McKay looked instantly better once the subject shifted.

Sheppard smirked as he said, "Not prime."

"But does anyone other than Sheppard or McKay notice something special about the number 407?" Spencer asked.

Lokusay brought a pitcher of water to the table and answered as nen poured. "It factors to 11 and 37, which are both kind of big primes?"

"That's true. They are rather interesting factors," Spencer conceded, "but not what I was looking for."

Doestossay called from across the room, "Four cubed is 64. Zero cubed is zero. Seven cubed is 343. Adding the cubes of the digits gives you the original number, 407."

"Is math aptitude higher in Pegasus? My minions with PhD's wouldn't get that so fast." McKay eyed the bowl of fruit in the center of their table suspiciously. Doestossay made sure they never set out any kind of citrus, precisely because McKay came over so often, but the worries of a lifetime were hard to overcome.

"Mental math and related skills generally test higher among people without a written language but whose verbal language supports math concepts. Have you heard of the Guugu Yimithirr language where all location information is based on cardinal directions? If they wanted to ask you to move to the seat on your left, they'd ask you to move one seat east instead."

"Feed me before my brain clogs with social science!" McKay objected, but Spencer knew without relying on his gifts that it was well intended teasing.

"Everyone come eat!" Sawasay called out. Nen set her soup on a trivet at one end of the table as Lokusay brought a pan of cheesy bread hot from the oven.

Ronon moved to the table as if other than the sling binding him, there was nothing wrong. Spencer sat beside him and the pinta took their usual places.

"Smells good," Doestossay said.

"Smells spicy," McKay added. "Give me cheese bread first." He made grabby hands and Sheppard passed him a piece of bread.

Once they all had food, McKay started up again. "So there was a reason Lokusay invited us today. I've been talking with her about the whole pronoun thing, and pretty obviously, English and French are stupid about this and Earth people are stupid about gender in general. I never fit in with other males, not that I wanted to be like my sister either. I don't want to be a different gender than I am. But calling that gender male seems beyond stupid now. It was based on a flawed and limited data set. So, I want to try out the nen pronoun and not being referred to as male or female. Anyone who uses Mr. rather than Dr. before my name is going to regret it for other reasons, so that's all. It's not exactly rocket science, which isn't as hard as people pretend anyway."

"Okay," Spencer said. "I know what you mean about not feeling male or understanding the culture around that, even if I'm not choosing to change my pronouns."

Sheppard was the only one at the table looking a little blindsided as he fell deeper into his fake casual façade. McKay was looking the other way toward Lokusay, who was smiling at him proudly.

"What's French?" Doestossay asked.

Pointing to the Canadian flag on his uniform, McKay said, "Where I come from in Canada, you look like a fool if you don't know at least the basics of two languages, French and English."

Sawasay served herself more soup. It was spicy as usual, and Sawasay was always the most appreciative of her own cooking. "You know Lokusay's Athosian group wants to make pronoun patches to supplement the flags on some of the uniforms here."

"They're not all Athosian," Lokusay corrected. "It's just that Namar, who is Athosian, started a whole movement about cross cultural understanding and respect. This group is for younger people, and the majority of younger people on Atlantis are Athosian. But yes, I'm going to be embroidering pronoun patches for anyone who wants one."

"Sure, then I won't have to explain this again," McKay said. "Pass me another piece of bread," nen said to Sheppard.

Sheppard chose a nice cheesy piece and asked, "Would most people without enhanced hearing even hear the pronouns others use for them? I mean, I'll try to remember what everyone wants, but it seems like something that would come up more in filling out mission reports than in everyday interactions. Do you want me to refer to you as nen in mission reports?"

"Yeah, sure. I don't think anyone except Woolsey reads them, but let other readers figure it out for themselves if they're confused." McKay gave a long moan as he bit into his cheese heavy piece of bread.

Lokusay kept smiling at McKay, then turned to Sheppard and asked, "Did you use nen for me when you wrote about the mission where you picked us up?"

"Um, maybe not? You hadn't done the whole panel discussion then, so I may have treated it like a translation issue. Sorry?" Sheppard raised his eyebrows without the rest of his face changing expression, and Spencer could tell the Colonel was still pretending to act casual rather than really relaxing among friends.

"Are you asking or telling nen?" Sawasay didn't roll nen eyes, but looked like it was a struggle not to. "And that's how it comes up in regular conversation in front of the person."

"In French, the gender of any person mentioned is automatically specified, even where you could say 'I, you, or the baker' in English," McKay spoke around a mouthful of cheese.

"As the linguist Roman Jakobson wrote, 'Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey.'" Spencer waited until he was finished quoting to pick up another piece of bread.

Sawasay still had her sights fixed on Sheppard. "Have you written about me or anyone else with nen or they/them pronouns since the panel discussion?"

"I refer to you by name. I don't think I've needed to write a pronoun on anything yet." He looked at Sawasay who wasn't playing the role of apprentice at the moment. Nen teenage glare could take anyone down, and nen loyalty to bond mates was well known on Atlantis already. "I promise if I ever need to use a pronoun for you or anyone else I will do my very best to get it right."

"Good. We'll let you have cookies." Sawasay sounded only partially appeased, but nen brought over the ceramic bowl with a lid that served as their cookie jar. "Lokusay made these with berries Doestossay grew." Nen added quickly before McKay could interrupt, "They contain absolutely no citrus."

When Sheppard gave his second cookie to McKay, Spencer could practically see the wheels turning in the Colonel's head, trying to cram the nen pronoun into recalcitrant crevices in his brain. It might be necessary for changing old habits, but Spencer still felt a twinge of sympathetic anxiety.

#

The whole family had sunken more than settled into a movie marathon by the time someone else knocked on their door that afternoon.

Ronon went to answer it and they all heard him say, "Teyla?"

"May I come in?" she asked.

"Yeah. Join us for a movie?"

"I wish I could," she said. Spencer paused the movie as Teyla crossed into their living area. "I am sorry to bother you all, but there has been an incident. While the military conducts a threat assessment, I have been asked to oversee the investigation as an independent arbitrator. Have you all been here together since leaving the infirmary?"

"Yes," Spencer said. If Teyla was acting as arbitrator instead of him, the new development probably involved him or someone close to him.

"Have you communicated with anyone else?"

"Sheppard and McKay came for lunch." Ronon stood between Teyla and the rest of them, and Spencer could feel his worry and protectiveness building though their bond. Those feeling grew even stronger when Teyla focused in on his son.

"Doestossay, I am sorry to bother you at this time. Can you tell me when you last visited your greenhouse and what you last did there? I am asking in front of your family because your adoption paperwork lists you as a minor. But if you would rather speak privately, that can be arranged."

"Has he been accused of something?" Sawasay asked.

"No." Teyla spoke evenly, and Spencer didn't try using his gifts to read her emotions. He owed her that level of respect and trust. "It would help if he could answer before I say more."

"I'm fine with answering," Doestossay said. "I haven't been there since last night, before dinner. I checked the irrigation settings and put away some tools."

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

"No." Doestossay appeared relaxed, but Ronon was fiddling with his sling as if eager to rip it off and prepare himself for a fight.

"Have you had trouble with anyone, personally or regarding the new greenhouse you've been setting up?"

"Um, a lot of people don't really like me. But trouble?" Doestossay's voice cracked, reminding them all of how young he was despite having grown at least two inches and gaining several pounds since coming to Atlantis.

"Could you tell me by name or description who has indicated dislike for you or your work?" Teyla's eyes watched Doestossay carefully, but her voice was calm in a way that offered its own reassurance.

Taking a deep breath and sinking back farther into the corner of the couch Doestossay said, "A couple of military with US flags on their uniforms tease me pretty often about being a florist and a fag."

"What?" Ronon interrupted. His voice was low and calm, but the muscles around his eyes tightened with how much anger he was holding back.

"Please, Ronon, let him finish," Teyla said. "Anyone else?"

"A few other people asked awkward questions, like Private Cole back at that party, but they were either young people or really shy. No other military. No one I found threatening." He crossed his arm, possibly trying to look more sure of himself.

Teyla watched and waited expectantly.

"Another botanist and a exobiologist gave Dr. Parrish some grief about letting me run the experimental greenhouse. When they said stuff to me directly, he told them I was basically his grad student and they should leave me alone. I had him explain that to me later if you haven't heard about grad students. It's an Earth thing."

Teyla nodded. "I learned the term grad student when McKay attempted to explain the various types of minions, long ago. I believe Parrish means better by it."

After another long pause and moving his hands to his knees, Doestossay said, "I think I offended Lokusay's friend, Merel. I flinched when she touched me, and she's been avoiding me ever since."

"No, that's Namar's fault," Lokusay said, pushing into Doestossay's side. Nen was the only person who never triggered his touch aversion, and nen took advantage of that to offer him all the tactile reassurance possible. "He gave Merel a 'clear and enthusiastic consent' lecture that made her face turn a deep maroon color. I'd never seen anyone turn that dark a red. It had me worried, medically. But she shouldn't avoid you over that."

When it was clear Doestossay had nothing more to say, Teyla asked, "Has anyone commented or spoken to you about being Satedan or about your gift?"

"I haven't discussed gifts with anyone outside my family and Dr. Parrish, and I guess Juarez and Dr. Beckett in the infirmary a long time ago. When I'm asked where I'm from or who my people are, I tell them I'm Satedan because Ronon adopted me." Doestossay's eyes went to Ronon, not making eye contact for long, but it was longer than he'd looked at anyone during the rest of the conversation. "He said I could, that I am."

"If you would accompany me to the greenhouse, you could see what prompted this investigation." Teyla motioned to the door.

"Did someone hurt the plants?" Doestossay asked, suddenly on the edge of his seat and looking ready to fight.

"I do not believe so," Teyla said. "While I am sorry to upset you, I think it is best that you see."

#

Their whole family followed Teyla down to the Southeast Pier, very close to their expanded quarters. It was also the site of a relatively small greenhouse that Parrish had put Doestossay in charge of repairing and setting up to analyze new food strains that might be worth growing on Atlantis. Over the years, they'd become less dependent on Earth for food, but more dependent on local trade. With an ever-growing population, Parrish as the lead botanist had been charged with cultivating an emergency supply of necessary or hard to obtain crops. Doestossay had started out as a quiet consultant who'd grown up farming in Pegasus, but had rapidly been promoted to apprentice, or what Parrish called "grad student."

By late afternoon, the first half of the pier was in shadow. They came out into warm sunlight as they neared what some people called "Doestossay's greenhouse." It was about the size of the Atlantis dining hall, less than a quarter of the square footage and half the height of the main hydroponic greenhouse Parrish oversaw directly.

The sides and roof of Doestossay's greenhouse appeared to be made of clear, thick glass, although the Ancient substance was actually much stronger. Today those clear panes were covered in huge red words that looked like they'd been spray painted. In places the red paint dripped like blood. The words covered at least half the outer surface and were the opposite of art.

Sheppard and Lorne were on site with at least a dozen military keeping everyone back. McKay was scanning the building with Ancient tech and probably his own heightened Sentinel senses. A couple of the scientists that Spencer had trained in forensics, Woo and Oni, were working close to the front door.

Spencer had only a moment to take in the scene before every connection to his family burned with upset and anger. His stomach clenched. As a Guide, he pulled tight the empathic shields he'd finally learned to control. While he'd like to believe he could manage his own emotions, Spencer didn't want to accidentally broadcast the tangled knot of anxiety growing in his chest.

#

_The first time Spencer's mom ever visited his classroom at the Milikan Gifted Magnet School was for Open House. Each of the first graders had chosen a habitat to represent as a diorama. Spencer had chosen to recreate an early Triassic riverside. Although he wasn't especially skilled with scissors, he'd worked hard with tissue paper and cellophane that the teacher provided, as well as with pipe cleaners that poked and scratched his fingers, in order to model important plants from nearly 250 million years in the past. There was at least one pipe cleaner at the center of each plant that Spencer had carefully anchored in either blue (for water) or brown (for mud) clay._

_It had taken hours, including some recesses and free time, to make horsetails, lycopods, and several varieties of seed ferns to match pictures of fossils and artist's recreations in books he'd borrowed from the school library. Spencer hadn't minded. This school library was much better than the one he'd had for Kindergarten. He'd never before been allowed to choose his own project idea, and making the diorama had turned out to be much more fun than any regular free play or recess activity. Those he could do anytime. This project was something special._

_When the dioramas were finished, each student had been allowed to choose one plastic animal from the classroom collections, and Spencer had chosen the Herrerasaurus. It was officially a carnivore that would have hunted for smaller prey in the thickets along the riverside. But Spencer imagined his Herrerasaurus as a vegetarian that was ostracized and misunderstood by its peers. While Spencer hadn't done very well at making friends with any of the other students at his new school, Spencer considered Herra the Herrerasaurus to be his new best friend._

_Now, as he led his mom between rows of desks, he was glad his father hadn't come. Nothing Spencer did ever pleased his father. But his mom would appreciate his efforts to research the past. Even if she preferred to study times when people lived and were already writing words, he knew that she would listen if he used his words to tell her about Herra the Herrerasaurus and each of the plants he'd carefully researched. His mom was his other best friend._

_As they approached his desk, Spencer saw the intricate diorama he'd left out at the end of class was now a flattened mass covered in partially dried blue poster paint. He could still see the depression where his river had run through the center and the raised banks to either side. But each of his carefully supported pipe cleaner plants had been pressed flat, as if someone had lay down and rolled around on top of his diorama. If that had been all, Spencer might have believed it an accident. Someone could have fallen across his desk. But the blue mess on top looked like an entire plastic bottle of blue paint had been squeezed out to cover up every inch of his work._

_There was no sign of Herra. The blue paint wasn't deep enough to hide a solid plastic figure that could not be crushed like pipe cleaners and paper._

_Spencer crouched to look under his desk. While down on the floor, he looked side to side. There was no sign of Herra under his or any other desk, on the book shelves, or with the supply cart. Just as Spencer mentally mapped out a search plan to cover every possible hiding place in the room that was large enough to conceal Herra, he heard his mom start to breathe too fast and loud._

_Panicked breathing was a warning sign. In a moment his mom would either cry and try to hide or shout and make a scene. It had happened in a grocery store once, when she saw opened packaging and started screaming that someone was tampering with the children's cereal. That time Spencer's father had dragged her out of the store still screaming. When it happened at home, Spencer often ended up trapped under a bed or in a closet with his mom until she calmed down. It could take hours. He hated being trapped like that. He hated seeing his mom upset like that._

_This time, he rushed to take his mom's hand. "Wait. I know where my real project must be."_

_He tugged her to the classroom door and kept pulling all the way out to the parking lot. Luckily, it was night and dark already. While there were lights around the parking lot, they left a lot of shadows when the lot was full of cars and minivans for Open House._

_"Please, we need to go back in the car." He pressed against the door until she unlocked it. Once they were safe inside he asked, "Can you drive me back home? I need to look there for my Herrerasaurus and the rest of my project."_

_Spencer's mom trembled. At that point in their lives, she sometimes knew when her mind wasn't behaving right. Spencer knew she knew, even though he didn't really understand schizophrenia and had learned not to ask. When she could, his mom tried very hard to act like everything was okay, especially if they were away from home._

_"Are you sure, Spencer? That looked like…" She trailed off, and Spencer felt her rising panic as if it were another person, pressed between them inside the car._

_Spencer wanted to cry. He knew someone had wrecked his project. On purpose. Worse, they'd upset his mom. Now he had to lie, or at least pretend enough to get them away from the school. "I know that looked bad, but that was like a flood layer. There's supposed to be another layer on top. The riverside habitats in the early Triassic flooded sometimes, but that helped the seed ferns spread."_

_As Spencer talked on and on, sharing all the facts he'd wanted to tell his mom when she saw his diorama as intended, she managed to drive them home._

#

"What does it say?" Doestossay was asking as he stared at the red letters covering his greenhouse. He'd made some efforts to learn both English and Satedan, including reading, but written languages did not come easily to him.

Lokusay, despite coming from a planet with no written language, had taken to reading with a passion. Nen read aloud, "Stop the alien conspiracy." Tilting her head, nen read an upward slanting line, "Gifts against us."

"It's all in capital letters," Spencer volunteered, "So it could be 'Gifts against US.' The U.S. is a specific part of Earth." Spencer didn't know how he could help their son, except to stay calm. At the very least, he wouldn't make the situation worse or make his pinta deal with his own anxiety.

"Who did this?" Ronon practically growled, but so softly only their family and Teyla could hear. He'd lost the sling for his left arm somewhere along the way to the greenhouse, but Spencer wasn't going to complain under the circumstances.

"That is what we are investigating," Teyla said.

"No more blind trust." Lokusay clenched her fists as nen continued to read aloud. "What else are they hiding?"

"Did they write this from a Jumper? Cloaked? How did no one see?" Sawasay asked.

"Is someone checking the maintenance drones?" Spencer asked.

"Lorne mentioned those options," Teyla said. "He has someone checking."

When Sheppard hurried away with two Marines, Ronon followed before any of them could ask why. Spencer guessed the Tracker had heard whatever radio call they were responding to and wanted to see for himself. "Let's stay together. We've seen enough of this vandalism anyway."

Their pinta followed him, and Teyla didn't object. When they reached the stairs Ronon and the others had taken, they were at the base of the tower where their family and many others lived. Ronon's spirit animal, Dexter, appeared. The navone, like a large racoon, raced ahead of Spencer. Everyone followed as Spencer picked up the pace.

The others didn't ask, but Teyla said, "I assume we are following something only you can see?"

Spencer nodded.

The navone pawed at the stairway exit four floors up, and Spencer opened it slowly onto a hallway where several people were yelling. One of them was the usually quiet Dr. Parrish. "You can see the paint smudge there, by the door!"

The tall man pointed down near the ground, where red paint from a shoe might have scuffed. Sheppard looked but showed no other reaction.

Ronon's nostrils flared, but the Tracker stayed silent. Of the two Marines that had accompanied Spencer, one seemed to be keeping Ronon out of the room, the other wasn't visible, presumably inside already.

"But how did you know to look here?" the Colonel asked.

Parrish glanced up at a bat hanging from an Ancient light fixture. Spencer would have spotted the blue glow that marked a spirit animal even if he hadn't previously met Lorax while helping Parrish learn about his gifts and the spirit plane. "Gardini is the only botanist on Atlantis who would do something like this! He'd complained about my apprentice overseeing that greenhouse rather than bringing in one of his protégés from Earth. Rather than himself—even though he'd never shown any interest in refurbishing it before."

"Did you turn down applications from any of his protégés?" Sheppard asked.

"I've never seen any applications. You'd have to ask Dr. McKay or someone at the SGC."

"You never opened a job request!" Someone shouted from inside the doorway, presumably Gardini.

"I'm not management. Someone with local knowledge wanted to help. I put him to work. And you attacked a greenhouse. How could a botanist do such a thing!"

"I didn't do anything! This is harassment!"

"Calm down everybody." Sheppard looked at Parrish. "I'm glad you called me, but in the future, could you report your suspicions first?"

Parrish glanced at his bat again, and Sheppard understood then if he hadn't before. While he could only see his own spirit animal and didn't want to even discuss that with anyone, Sheppard knew that Parrish and Spencer, who were Spirit Leaders as well as Guides, were more prone to seeing their own spirit animals as well as others. The military commander shook his head. "We'll search the room and confine Gardini under house arrest until Teyla can investigate further."

#

Sawasay was called soon after to spend nen daily shift with the military cleaning paint off the greenhouse. The rest of them had been asked to stay in their quarters for the rest of the day.

Back home Doestossay said, "I should be helping. That greenhouse is my responsibility."

The youth was putting on a brave face, but Spencer could tell from the tension in his neck and shoulders that he was barely holding it together. "What happened to it wasn't your fault. You know that, right?"

"Doesn't mean I couldn't have prevented it by being more social or something." He turned to Lokusay and said, "Maybe you could take over my body sometimes and make nice with people."

Spencer wanted to wrap Doestossay up in cotton wool and keep him safe from all the mean people in the world, well actually, two galaxies.

Lokusay took Doestossay's hands and swung their arms saying, "You know it doesn't work that way. I'd have the wrong body language, and people who knew you would notice in any but the most hectic situations. Anyway, I'm not that good at making friends. More often, people feel sorry for me and want to take care of me."

Part of Spencer's brain wanted to ramble about the variations on cultural expectations they were encountering as more locals came to Atlantis, especially with the different perceptions on gender and with personal pronouns varying from one to fifty-four in different languages. Instead he said, "Some people like and value each of you for the unique perspectives you bring to our community. Some, for the skills you have or are learning. But you can each find ways to interact and make friends that build on who you are, not what others want you to be. Don't let intolerant or crazy people push you to be someone else."

Ronon pulled Spencer's back against his chest and hugged him. "Bit early for dinner, but we could cook something together. What sounds good?"

"I'm not really hungry," Doestossay said.

"Me either, but I could help if you want," Lokusay offered.

"Or we could go rest and give the parents some time to themselves." No one missed that this was Doestossay's way of asking Lokusay to cuddle, or whatever the two were up to at this point.

"Sounds good." Nen led Doestossay away by their still linked hands. Looking back, nen said to Ronon and Spencer, "Have fun until dinner."

Once the door had closed on Lokusay's room, Spencer looked up at Ronon who still held him in a backwards hug. "We probably have two or three hours. Should we look up a complicated recipe to try?"

"Nope, if they can go to bed in the middle of the day, so can we." Ronon shifted to grip Spencer's hand and led him back to their bedroom.

Once inside, he sat on the bed and pulled Spencer into his lap. They were facing each other, and Spencer wrapped his legs around to pull them closer. The Tracker buried his face in Spencer's neck, breathing deep and brushing soft kisses against the sensitive skin there. Spencer's gaze fell on Ronon's sword and the picture of Sateda's former capital hanging on the wall in front of him, then the bookcase that filled the adjoining wall. He wondered how he'd finally ended up living with someone, merging his life with someone else, only in another galaxy with a bond mate and three pinta who had all grown up on different planets.

While Spencer always felt the connection to his bond mate now, he'd had his empathy locked down tight since the crime scene. He opened it, focusing only on Ronon so he wouldn't violate the privacy of others in their household.

The neediness in his boyfriend took Spencer by surprise. He'd expected Ronon to want time alone or to hit something, as he had in the past. Spencer usually felt like the needy one in their relationship, with his touch sensitivities and a lifetime of social isolation. Now Ronon was a storm of uncertainty, protectiveness, and a desire for reassurance, along with feelings of failure and rejection. "Oh Ronon, I love you so much. What can I do?"

"Teyla would say we should meditate or talk. But I want to cover every inch of you with my skin and touch, then I want to lose myself inside of you."

The words alone had Spencer half hard. Whatever intentions he might have had to take care of his lover, Ronon's plan sounded better. As Ronon started to suck on the base of his neck, just above the collar bone, Spencer groaned. "Anything you want. But don't expect me to last long when you talk like that."

"Not planning to do much talking." Then Ronon said something in Satedan that roughly translated as, "Any peace but surrender. Surrender only in trust/love/bond." The latter part made sense but would never translate. The earlier part seemed to translate clearly enough, but Spencer wondered what it meant to his lover at this moment. Was staying put at home not surrender because they'd agreed to let Teyla lead the investigation, to seek peace? Or was Ronon not referring to that situation at all. Perhaps this was about finding peace for himself any way he could, with even surrender being acceptable between the two of them.

Ronon pulled Spencer's unbuttoned shirt down his arms until it tangled his hands in the sleeves, and he left it there. Spencer hadn't been wearing another layer underneath. Suddenly he was distracted from any concerns about linguistics or even about his hands being slightly restrained as Ronon sucked at his nipples. Without apparent effort Ronon's hands shifted to nudge Spencer up by his ass. He stretched as tall as he could while kneeling as Ronon licked and kissed his way down Spencer's chest.

"What about your arm?" Spencer gasped, suddenly remembering the missing sling.

"Graze. Ancient tech." Ronon redoubled his efforts to make Spencer incoherent, and whether it was endorphins or their infirmary was really that good, neither of them was feeling any pain.

Spencer's shirt fell away, and he pressed one hand into his own mouth to keep quiet as he looped the other behind Ronon's neck. The attention to his nipples went on until every nerve ending in Spencer's body lit up, even areas that hadn't been touched yet. Electric shivers ran from his nipples all the way to his toes, but also to his groin, which was pressed into his lover's chest. He rocked forward without thought and Ronon began massaging his ass in a rhythm that pushed Spencer forward over and over again. At the same time, Ronon's lips moved between his nipples, tongue and a hint of teeth making them hard and swollen. "You'll make me come in my pants," Spencer muttered around his fist.

Ronon hummed and there was so much lust radiating through their bond that Spencer shook in the larger man's grip. He rocked his hips more as Ronon's right hand shifted to press against his perineum and brush his balls. Ronon sucked on his nipple as if it was his cock and Spencer lost it, coming in his pants as his body turned to jelly.

He let himself be laid out on the bed. Ronon removed Spencer's pants and cleaned him up with something. Spencer's eyes were closed and there were still bright sparks shooting behind them.

It seemed like only a moment had passed when he felt his lover's completely naked body press against his side. The warmth was like sunburn, but welcome. Spencer's reactions to touch were sometimes magnified after sex. Now when Ronon drifted a hand lightly up his thigh, Spencer practically arched off the bed.

"Is this okay?"

"More than," Spencer answered.

Keeping full body contact along one side, Ronon shifted so one hand played gently with Spencer's hair as the other drifted over every patch of skin from his knees up. Spencer's body shivered or pressed into touches as if his skin had a mind of its own. His empathic shield and their bond were wide open, but only to Ronon, the one person Spencer could trust with such vulnerability, both physical and mental. Whatever neediness he'd sensed in Ronon before seemed to fuel a slow burning passion now. For a long time, there were no words, just constant touch that Spencer soaked in like a sponge.

When Ronon finally broke the silence he said, "Your skin is flushed everywhere I've touched. Even your scalp is pinker under the hair. I can see it when my fingers pass through. You're warm all over, but your scent is all you and your desire for me. I want to keep you quivering like this, smelling and looking like you do until your body can't sustain it anymore. But there are places I haven't touched yet, and I want all of you. Can you feel how much I want you?"

It surged through their bond. Not just lust, love, or desire. There was their connection as bond mates. The need for a Tracker to ground himself in his Guide, a chance to reinforce and build their bond. And there was more. As alone as Ronon had been for years as a Runner, as alienated as Spencer had felt throughout childhood and even into adulthood, there was a need to be known within each of them and an eagerness to explore and know all they could about each other.

"I want it too," Spencer said as Ronon rolled him over. His flushed and over-sensitized skin reacted with pleasure bordering on pain to the sudden pressure all along his front from smooth, cool sheets.

Then Ronon kissed the back of Spencer's calves as the larger man's hands played lightly around Spencer's ankles and feet. He knew to avoid the most ticklish reactions and how to keep Spencer from kicking instinctively at others, by the time he worked up to Spencer's knees, it was clear the Tracker meant to scent and touch as thoroughly along the newly exposed skin as he had the other side.

Spencer wasn't surprised to feel his arousal building as his lover teased his thighs. Even if his body shouldn't be able to come again so soon, those rules didn't seem to apply with his bond mate's desire feeding into his own and his bond mate's touch overwhelming his senses. Spencer was quivering and ready the first time Ronon stroked his crack and kissed along the top of his hip bone. But the Tracker wanted to claim every inch of him. So Spencer spent the entire time Ronon focused on his back feeling just as aware of his front. His cock and nipples rubbed against their bed, and Spencer knew his lover was entirely aware of how desperate and overwhelmed he was.

At some point, Spencer's overactive brain lost track of what and where exactly he was being touched. But Ronon was with him, through touch and their bond, security that he'd hold together even as he fell apart. Sensation shot along his spine and out to his extremities. His fingers and toes twitched. His throat hummed and the vibrations echoed everywhere. He was drifting, on fire and yet liquid, flowing. Only a small part of him was aware when Ronon's first slick finger pressed inside his hole. Soon there was overwhelming pleasure. A fiery sea with waves building across and beyond him. The pleasure built. Sensation built. He was full. He was on fire. He was burning, bursting, flowing. Then he tumbled down into peace and sleep.

#

A couple hours later, Lokusay knocked on their bedroom door and announced, "Namar dropped off pizza. He says it's comfort food from Earth. You two are welcome to have some, unless Doestossay eats it all before you get out here."

Spencer laughed at how fast Ronon got dressed. Then he laughed at how much his entire family enjoyed foods that were basic variations on cheese and bread.

#


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Doestossay came to breakfast in his blue science shirt. He wasn't required to wear it. Uniforms for anyone other than military were mostly optional, although many of their local trade partners had discovered that certain colors in comfortable designs sold well to the Lanteans. But Parrish had found a couple of variations on the science uniform that fit his apprentice, and Doestossay wore them most days.

Spencer wondered if the display meant more to the young man today. As he set out toast and scrambled eggs, Spencer asked, "Would you mind if I tagged along with you to the greenhouse this morning? I know I can't be part of any official investigation, but it's hard not to want a look."

Doestossay looked around, but Lokusay and Sawasay were still asleep. Ronon was getting some exercise with Sheppard, not running or using his left arm—they'd promised.

Piling scrambled eggs onto buttered toast, Doestossay said, "I know you're trying to look out for me. Do I feel that distressed to you?"

"No," Spencer reached out and rested his hand closer to Doestossay on the kitchen counter. "I mean, some of my motivation might be looking out for you as well. But I try really hard not to read your emotions or even profile you, although I can't always stop that."

"I don't mind. Everyone says I'm easy to read anyway." Doestossay placed his hand on top of Spencer's, accepting the offered touch and even meeting Spencer's eyes. "If you know me better than most, I'm totally okay with that. But I don't need you to watch out for me or act like a parent when I'm at work."

"I promise I won't. I just want to look around, doing my own work, even if it can only be unofficial."

"Okay, let's go." Doestossay shifted away and shoved half a scrambled egg sandwich into his mouth.

It was amazing how fast everyone in their new family could eat. Spencer put the last of his toast in his mouth and transferred his coffee to a travel mug.

When they reached Doestossay's greenhouse, there were still two guards posted outside, but the walls were as clear and clean as ever. That made it easy to see Lorne and Teyla chatting inside with Woo and Oni. Spencer barely had time to worry at the presence of his unofficial forensic trainees along with those leading the greenhouse investigation before Doestossay held the door open.

"Good morning, Doestossay, Dr. Reid," Lorne greeted them first, but the others followed.

Teyla focused in on Doestossay, "Some more questions have arisen. May we speak with you before you begin your work?"

"Okay." Doestossay was right about being easy to read. His forehead wrinkled and his voice sounded tight on the single word. But he stood up tall and met Teyla's gaze before focusing someplace over her shoulder.

"Would you like us to call Ronon or are you happy with those present?"

Doestossay glanced Spencer's way and nodded. "This is fine."

"Good. Could you start by telling us if you ever make tea here or any tea like beverage?"

"What?" Doestossay asked. One eyebrow raised in honest confusion.

Teyla half smiled, but everything else in her body language was serious. "Do you have any reason for keeping tea balls in your tool shed?"

Doestossay shook his head slowly.

"Since I only learned about tea balls here, let me check." Doestossay held up a hand forming a circle with his thumb and pointer finger. His other fingers curved behind, like part of a sphere. "You mean something this big—a round metal cage with a chain for pulling it out when the tea is steeped?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Why would that be in a tool shed?" Doestossay was open and transparent in his bafflement. Nobody could have profiled the youth as anything other than honest in that moment. He showed no sign of even guessing where such a line of questioning might lead. Spencer wanted to step between his pinta and what had to come next in exactly the parental role he'd promised not to take at work.

"So you don't know why any would be in this shed?" Teyla motioned to the only part of the greenhouse with opaque walls.

"There weren't any there when I left the day before yesterday. Unless they were hidden." Doestossay was now eyeing his tool shed suspiciously.

Spencer knew how a safe place could be contaminated by others' hostile actions. As if painting the outside walls hadn't been enough, now someone seemed to have tampered with the only private space within Doestossay's greenhouse.

"Who else uses the shed?" Teyla asked.

"Mostly me and Dr. Parrish, but anyone could borrow tools. The door has a latch, not a lock."

"We noticed," Lorne said. He didn't bother to hide his disappointment in that discovery. While the Major would never make it as an arbitrator, he did a fairly good job of holding himself back and letting Teyla maintain control of the situation. Spencer appreciated that as Teyla's friend and fellow arbitrator. At the same time, he wondered if Lorne was concerned about Parrish being implicated, given their low key, but not secret, relationship.

"Perhaps you could identify a leaf for us," Teyla continued. She looked to Dr. Oni who produced a plastic sample bag with a single leaf in it.

"Mancinea, from the berries over there." Doestossay pointed to a bush with shiny green leaves and large yellow berries. The leaf in the bag had clearly been dried. "I don't think anyone would put that in tea, although you could ask someone in medical. The leaves are sometimes crushed to make an injury numb if people don't have better medicine."

"What exactly would happen if someone ate the leaves or made tea with them?" Teyla asked.

Wrinkling his nose, Doestossay said, "I'm not sure. Everyone knows they're poisonous, so I've never heard of anyone trying that. Dr. Parrish and everyone I worked with here knew they were poisonous before I came, so they might know more."

Teyla turned to Lorne. "Anything you want to ask?"

Lorne shook his head. He turned to Spencer. "I know you can't be involved in any official capacity, but I won't object if you have procedural suggestions. You trained Drs. Oni and Woo to handle crime scenes. They've been in charge of scanning, photographing, and collecting evidence. Is there anything else we should do before asking Doestossay to look at the tool shed and tell us if anything is out of place?"

"If your forensic team is done with the scene," Spencer spoke slowly and looked to Oni and Woo who both nodded, "then you should probably advise your witness"—Spencer wasn't willing to use the word suspect in this context—"to only point and not to touch anything and not to walk around more than necessary."

"You hear that?" Lorne asked Doestossay.

"Are you saying someone was poisoned with leaves from this greenhouse?" Doestossay asked.

"No," Teyla spoke in her calmest voice, clearly picking up on Doestossay's distress. "Please, take a look in the tool shed and point out anything that is different."

Woo opened the shed door with a gloved hand. Doestossay and Teyla stepped barely inside, while Spencer and the others hovered outside the door.

"I've never seen that box." Doestossay pointed to something like a toolbox on a lower shelf. "The paper pollination bags that are now stacked on top of the cloth kind used to be on that part of the shelf."

"Has anything else been moved?" Teyla asked.

"Not that I notice. What's going on?" Doestossay looked to Teyla and then over his shoulder to Spencer.

Spencer shook his head but couldn't imagine how to make that more reassuring.

"Could one of you open the box for us?" Teyla asked, and Woo slipped past to open the lid and hold the open box in front of them. It contained two metal tea balls and a pile of dried leaves. "Have you ever touched any of these items?"

"Not that I know of. I've cleaned up fallen leaves before. And those look like the tea balls in the mess hall. But I didn't save or dry any leaves or take any tea balls from the mess." Doestossay sounded scared, like he was being accused of wrongdoing.

"Listen." Lorne crowded halfway through the door and Doestossay flinched.

Spencer hadn't seen the boy flinch away without even being touched since his first couple weeks on Atlantis. The analyst wondered if Lorne's build or something in his carriage or appearance in that moment triggered memories of Doestossay's callous father. But Spencer had promised not to act like a parent at work, and he was pretty sure nothing he could say would help anyway. He did open his empathic shields enough to have a read on Lorne's intentions and others around him, so he knew Lorne meant what he said next.

"Listen, we think you're being framed, but the best way to find out who's involved and keep you safe, is to play along. We currently have Dr. Gardini under house arrest as a suspect for at least vandalism, but we have reason to believe someone else left this box." Lorne gestured to the box Woo still held open. "I don't know if they've planted other evidence, are planning to set you up for actually poisoning someone, or have some other goal. If we detain you as a suspect without specifying why, we could wait to see who assumes they know why or what other clues we are fed or uncover. It would be best to escort you publicly to a cell, so anyone watching thinks we believe this box is yours. Having you in custody would also give us very good evidence of your whereabouts should anything else happen and make it easier to keep you safe. Do you think you could play along with that?"

Doestossay nodded. Spencer recognized the tight way he held himself as trying not to show weakness or fear. More than ever, Spencer wanted to step in as a parent, to step between Lorne and Doestossay. But he remembered his earlier promise and how worrying about his mom's reactions had made situations harder for Spencer as a child and teen. He wasn't sure he'd know how to be a good parent now.

"I'm speaking to you in this shed to limit who can see or overhear." Lorne continued softly and kept his hands down, which helped Doestossay regain some calm. "I don't think we'd need to hold you more than a day or two, but for all intents and purposes, you would truly be our prisoner. If you think that would be too traumatic, tell me now. If there are certain conditions you need to feel safe, I'm open to discussion."

Doestossay couldn't meet Lorne's eyes, but he looked past him to meet Spencer's. "I can do it, but some people here don't like me. What if they try to hurt me because they think I'm a criminal?"

"Are you saying someone in the military here makes you feel unsafe?" Lorne's voice hardened with each word.

Doestossay barely managed a nod.

Teyla said smoothly, "We do not have names, but Doestossay mentioned a few American military when we were listing possible suspects for the greenhouse attack. Perhaps it would be prudent to have someone non-military or not from Earth paired with whoever you assign to stand guard. I am sure several Athosians would volunteer, as I would if I were not already involved in this investigation. Or perhaps a family member could be present, since he is officially a child by your laws?"

"Sawasay, Ronon, and I are all certified to carry weapons," Spencer said, suddenly offered a role he could play without quite crossing the line by acting like a parent at work. "We could probably get medical to recommend our presence for Doestossay's psychological wellbeing if needed."

"I'm fine with that." Lorne turned to face Doestossay again. "You could also ask for a medical evaluation or for Teyla as the arbitrator if you need something changed at any point. You'd have a right to that even if you were guilty of a crime. This isn't meant to be a punishment. We'll provide food, bedding, all the basics."

Doestossay sputtered out. "That's fine. Could you ask Dr. Parrish to keep an eye on the greenhouse?"

"We'll keep it guarded, but I'll ask him to check on the plants," Lorne promised with more warmth than he'd shown previously.

Doestossay managed a weak smile.

"One last thing," Lorne spoke calmly but Spencer could feel how uncomfortable he felt about whatever he was about to say. "Procedure says you should be restrained on the way to the cell. If you don't want me or either of the guards to touch you, then you need to be handcuffed. I could let Dr. Reid put the cuffs on you if that helps."

There was no way Spencer wanted to put handcuffs on a kid who'd been traumatized and deprived of choices about his own body. "Is that really necessary?"

"It is. We need to make this look real."

"I don't mind," Doestossay said.

"I do," Spencer said. "No one should restrain you or confine you. We'd never ask a kid on Earth to go along with this." Spencer remembered being trapped in a closet or under a bed with his own mom. He remembered being tied to a chair as he tried to play along with the ever shifting multiple personalities of Tobias Henkel while being beaten and injected with a dilaudid mixture.

"I'm not really a kid, not here. You know that. Accepting you and Ronon as parents does not mean I'm a child." Now Doestossay sounded angry. Spencer pushed down his own fears around both parenting and breaking his promise not to act as a parent in this situation. He wished Ronon was there in his place and silently tugged at their bond.

Barely a moment later a guard from outside knocked on the greenhouse door and asked if they should let Ronon in. The Tracker must have been nearby and listening, although Spencer wasn't sure for how long.

"Let him in," Lorne called out, not fully leaving the small shed they were still mostly crowded inside.

Ronon loomed in the shed doorway behind Spencer, "What's going on?"

In a voice not meant to carry, Teyla said, "We are trying to keep this quiet. Someone appears to have planted evidence to suggest Doestossay meant to poison someone using dangerous leaves from this greenhouse inside tea balls from the mess hall. We asked Doestossay if he would play along as a prisoner for a day or two so we might see if anyone would show their involvement, beyond the scientist already being held for defacing the greenhouse. We have agreed to have a family member stand guard along with a member of the Atlantis military at all times. However, Dr. Reid is concerned about Doestossay being hand cuffed or confined in a cell. Doestossay asserts he is old enough to decide for himself."

Resting a hand on Spencer's shoulder, Ronon said, "This isn't about being old enough to decide, is it?"

Spencer shook his head. "I'd hesitate to ask this of anyone, even an adult, on Earth. However, I'm probably biased by my own experiences."

"They asked, and Doestossay agreed. Right?"

Spencer and Doestossay both nodded. "So what else?"

"I don't want to put handcuffs on our pinta," Spencer said, feeling his face heat. He was easier to read at the moment than Doestossay.

With a squeeze to Spencer's shoulder, Ronon said, "I'll do it. It doesn't mean the same to us as it does to you."

Looking between his bond mate and their pinta, Spencer could see and feel how true that was. Despite what each of them had been through, Doestossay fleeing his home planet and Ronon running from the Wraith for seven years, they were both fine with this idea. If anything, Doestossay was happy to have Ronon there to put the handcuffs on him. That hurt Spencer a bit as a parent, but he was glad for their sake. "Okay."

Lorne handed Ronon the handcuffs, and he put them on Doestossay without hesitation. The embroidered bracelet that Lokusay had made for each member of their family, black and white with eight colored lines, settled just above the left cuff. Ronon rubbed his thumb along it as he held Doestossay's wrist. "You good?"

"Yes."

"I'll follow and take the first shift on guard duty," Ronon said.

"Okay." Doestossay relaxed, meeting Ronon's eyes and almost smiling despite the circumstances.

As they all moved out of the shed, Doestossay brushed up again Spencer, and Spencer knew it meant things were okay between them. He followed behind Ronon and the rest.

#

Spencer wasn't sure if he'd have more issues around seeing his pinta locked up in a cell than Ronon or Doestossay would, but his stomach churned and he was upset enough that he closed his empathic shield completely. As they neared the cells, he excused himself to collect some items that Doestossay might need.

Back in their apartment, he took several deep breaths and drank some juice, rather than the coffee that was still mostly untouched in his travel mug.

Then he collected a cloth bag they usually took to markets and braved his teenage son's room. It turned out to be tidy and not very lived in looking. They all knew Doestossay preferred to sleep with Lokusay, but it suddenly hit Spencer how few possessions the boy had. He'd fled his home with only the clothes on his back. They'd provided him with various clothing when he'd reached Atlantis, but he'd collected little else. Spencer packed the soft sweats Doestossay used for pajamas, or really for chilly, lazy mornings at home. The teen wasn't at all body shy around family, so if it wasn't cold, he was happy wearing as little as possible. Spencer packed a pair of scrub pants and an Athosian woven shirt as well as underwear that came from the Atlantis commissary. Doestossay's tablet probably had videos and music to help pass the time. Other than that, there were only a few knick-knacks and office supplies on the desk beside a pile of books.

Spencer flipped through the books and chose one in English. It was basically a children's alphabet book with watercolor illustrations. The first alphabet book they'd tried had been full of animals and transportation that Doestossay couldn't name in any language. A teacher at the children's center had found one mostly about clothing and common household items that worked for most non-Earth children.

After that Spencer chose the simplest Satedan storybook they'd found. It also had occasional illustrations, but there were far more words per page. Doestossay liked Satedan because each letter only made one sound, which he'd quickly learned. He was good at sounding out words even if he still didn't know what most of them meant. But Satedan had a strong verbal storytelling tradition, despite having books and written language. Their educational system encouraged children to learn stories and poems by rote and then practice reading them aloud.

Finally, Spencer added a book of plants, also from the children's center. This had started as a homemade picture book with drawings of Athosian plants. Then pages had been added with other plant drawings, labeled in English or other languages. Pretty soon, each page contained a list of each plant's names in various Earth and Pegasus languages.

As Spencer prepared to leave, he wondered if he should wake Lokusay and Sawasay to tell them what had happened. Then he realized their gifts would allow Doestossay to tell his cluster however much he chose. That was a relief. While Spencer didn't want to shirk his responsibilities to their new family, he wasn't feeling socially competent at the moment. He didn't want to say anything that might upset Doestossay as he had before calling Ronon to help at the tool shed. It was hard for Spencer to navigate how he should support and stand up for his pinta versus when he was overstepping and would make things worse. Sometimes it seemed unfair that they could communicate within their cluster while he was flailing alone.

But he wasn't really alone. His bond with Ronon didn't let them speak mentally or take actions for each other, but it grounded Spencer and gave him a lot of insight into Ronon's emotions and state of mind. He'd been able to call Ronon by letting his own need communicate through the bond, although it helped that Ronon was nearby and apparently already listening. He could see how that might be disturbing in other contexts or for other people, as could the potential of the kids' cluster. They hadn't planned to be too specific about any of the mental components as they started sharing stories about gifts around Atlantis. So far they'd released through the Atlantis library a dozen Sateden stories and three from other cultures that touched on heightened senses, spirit animals, and bond mates. Teyla and Namar had been helping to organize a storytelling event that would feature stories about gifts and other beliefs prevalent in Pegasus. Now Spencer thought about the graffiti on the greenhouse that read, "Gifts against us…No more blind trust…What else are they hiding?" He didn't know if it was better to improve people's education about gifts or to ignore the issue for a while longer.

#

By the time Spencer arrived at Doestossay's cell, he'd pulled himself together—and reinforced his empathic shields. He found Sergeant Stackhouse and Ronon standing guard. Ronon's arms were crossed. Stackhouse held his lose at his sides. They were at opposite sides of an open doorway that led to an entry area before a private cell in the room. From the doorway Spencer could see the horizontal bars, about five feet in, that along with three regular walls formed the cell. It included a cot with a pillow and blankets and very rudimentary toilet facilities beyond that. But it was clean, private, and better than many jails and prisons Spencer had visited on Earth.

"I brought some things for Doestossay." Spencer glanced at his pinta sitting on the cot, apparently meditating. He wondered if Doestossay was talking to others in his cluster, and how they were all taking the situation. A surge of affection along their bond caused Spencer to look at Ronon, who hadn't moved other than to meet his eyes.

"You know I'll have to inspect them?" Stackhouse said.

"That's fine." Spencer tried to hand him the bag, but the Sergeant motioned for him to place it on the ground.

One by one, he inspected each item. Carefully unfolding and refolding the clothes. Flipping through every page of the books and checking the bindings. The only item he didn't put back in the bag was Doestossay's tablet. "No electronics are allowed in the cell. But you could set it up to play a movie or music from outside the bars if you want."

"Can I talk to him about what he wants?"

"Sure, he has no restrictions on family visitors."

As Spencer entered the room Doestossay shifted out of his cross-legged position and sat at the edge of his cot. "I don't really need the tablet now, but thanks. I'll do my study time with the books you brought."

"You don't have to while you're in here."

Doestossay smiled, and it looked completely sincere. "It's the perfect time. No distractions. It's not like I can go outside or learn botany stuff instead."

"I brought the plant book." Spencer knew it wasn't enough, but he didn't know what else to say.

"I'll study the words, but it's not the same as learning about the plants."

"Sorry. Is there anything else you want?" Spencer knew he asked for his own sake, trying to make himself feel better about the situation as much as he wanted to improve conditions for his pinta.

"I'm good relaxing for today. If I'm still here tomorrow, maybe more books, or something to do with my hands, like the Rubik's cube or tangrams."

Spencer wished he'd thought to bring those today. Most of Doestossay's math education they handled one on one, because it was hard to guess which parts of algebra and trigonometry would or wouldn't be obvious to someone who grew up with mental math and real world problem solving. But a lot of manipulatives, puzzles, and strategy games appealed to the teen as well.

Not wanting to seem over-eager or too parental again, Spencer said, "I'll see what I can find before my shift watching the door."

"Thanks," Doestossay said.

Feeling like he'd been dismissed and Doestossay probably wanted to get back to whoever he'd been talking with in his cluster, Spencer waved and left.

Outside the door Ronon stopped him with a hand to his shoulder, "You okay?"

"Sure."

"You're all closed off."

"I'm better than I was at the greenhouse, but I can't help it if this bothers me."

"Okay. What would help?" It was almost the same question Spencer had asked Doestossay, and Spencer felt a burst of connection to his bond mate. Whatever mixed motives they each had, they asked because they cared.

"I think I'll ask Sheppard if I can help with the investigation of the Satedans who came through the Gate. Lorne said he was willing to take my input, at least unofficially, at the greenhouse. With two cases running concurrently that should fit partially under my job description, there must be something I can do officially or otherwise for the one where I'm less personally connected."

"Don't see why them being Satedan counts as a conflict for you."

Spencer thought of the Satedan stories he'd read and epic poems Ronon had recited and couldn't recall any mention of conflicts of interest. It was probably assumed that anyone investigating a crime or working in any part of the justice system would know most if not all of the parties involved. "Exactly. I assume there's nothing else you want me to look into for you or for our family?"

"No. I'm thinking you'll take the shift after me here. Sawasay's usual work shift comes after that."

"Sounds good. I'll have my radio on if you need me."

Ronon rubbed Spencer's shoulder, and it was almost as good as a hug.

#

Sheppard slouched against the wall behind Spencer when he went in to speak with the Satedans. The metal bars around their cells looked the same as those in front of Doestossay, but these went around all four sides and shimmered with what Spencer knew was an Ancient forcefield. All three cells were inside a larger room with guards posted at the door and back wall. Their leader, Jobara, had only a cot. Her wife, Nadi, and their son, Dado, had modified infirmary gurneys while recovering from their gunshot wounds. Nadi was lying down, asleep with one leg visibly splinted and other injuries hidden by a blanket. The boy had his ribs and one arm wrapped in bandages, but was sitting at the foot of his bed, swinging his legs. They all wore Atlantis scrubs and had none of their own or other personal items.

Positioning himself to face the kid from just beyond the bars of his cell, Spencer said, "Hi, I'm Spencer Reid." Then in Satedan he said, "I can also speak some Satedan if you prefer." His spoken Satedan was far from polished, but he'd practiced that phrase until Ronon said it was smooth enough to show respect and effort. When the boy only blinked at him and didn't speak, the Consulting Detective switched back to English. "I'm told your name is Dado, we're not sure how old you are. I'm guessing from other young people I know that you consider yourself more an adult than a child." There wasn't any obvious reaction, but Spencer thought the youth was working not to smile. He opened his empathy enough to notice if he caused any serious upset or if anyone tried to lie to him. "Where I come from, people your age are treated a little differently than adults. We believe you still learn faster, need more physical activity, benefit more from entertainment or having something to do."

Dado stopped swinging his legs, as if he'd just realized that was a childish thing to do. Or maybe he was paying more attention to Spencer. There wasn't much emotion coming from Dado, but Spencer felt a sudden burst from Jobara in the adjacent cell. "Leave him alone. If you must talk to someone, talk to me."

"Sorry, I'd been told you didn't want to talk." Spencer turned to face the woman, but remained where he stood, closer to her son.

"I have nothing to say to the likes of you. And you should have nothing to say to my son."

It came naturally to Spencer to use one of Ronon's hand gestures, moving a hand away from his chest, as if dismissing a problem or implying it didn't matter. "Normally, I'd defer to a parent's wishes. But you brought your son into a battle that logically should have seen you all dead. And he didn't even have as good of armor as the adults."

"A Satedan warrior must earn that armor." Jobara literally turned her nose up at him. It was hard to imagine that motion in context implying anything other than the condescension it would show on Earth.

"I know," Spence said, hiding all emotion. "I've heard and read a lot of stories about Satedan warriors. Other than during a Wraith culling, none of them took unarmored kids into battle."

"You cannot judge me."

"I didn't come here to judge you. I came here to try to help Dado, based on my own standards of decency." Spencer turned back to the youth. "As I was saying, I thought you might benefit from something to occupy your time. I was about to collect some puzzles and books for another young person, and I wondered if there was anything you might want."

Dado kept silent, although Spencer could feel his longing for what was offered. His mother still projected anger, but also uncertainty. Spencer considered that a success on his part.

"In case it wasn't obvious, we have books in Satedan. They're books from Sateda, so if you wanted particular stories or poetry, I could check if we had them. For puzzles, we have some that make flat pictures and some where you rearrange physical objects into different shapes or surface patterns."

Spencer waited. The kid wanted.

Jobara finally said, "You may bring him books, so long as they are books from our people before the fall of Sateda."

"Does that sound good to you?" Spencer asked Dado without glancing at his mother. The boy didn't make any move, but Spencer could feel his excitement and see it in the faster blinking of his eyes. "Do you have any preferences? Poetry? History? Stories?"

Spencer saw a faint smile at the end. More interested in building good feeling than goading the kid into speaking, Spencer said, "I'm guessing stories then. I know the young people here enjoy them, but you have to promise not to hurt the books. Agreed?"

That caused the boy to bite his lip and jut his chin in the smallest sign of agreement.

"I'll be back with those as soon as I can."

#

When Spencer's turn for guard duty came, Lokusay tagged along, adding nen own items to the extra entertainment options Spencer had collected.

"Stackhouse, Ronon," Spencer said at the door. "I trust everything's been quiet?"

Ronon grunted.

Stackhouse said, "Only visitor other than you was Dr. Parrish, at lunch. Ronon corrected Doestossay's reading homework, and I had my first lesson in Satedan. It was harder than most of my college classes."

"Satedan's a straightforward and elegant language. Do you need to inspect what we brought?" Spencer set out the bag.

Stackhouse only hesitated once saying, "You know we'd give him an extra pillow if he asked?"

"It's mine," Lokusay said.

Stackhouse visibly blushed, like he didn't know what to say to such an innocent admission. But he and Ronon took care of searching and transferring the bag into the cell before Stackhouse's replacement arrived. Doestossay accepted the bag gratefully, and started pulling items out and arranging them to his liking. He changed into the sweat pants Spencer had packed earlier but didn't bother with a shirt. It was rather warm in the cell block, and Spencer chose to see this as Doestossay's way of settling in as if he were at home.

"Private Prasetyo, reporting for guard duty." The new guard was someone Spencer had seen around Atlantis many times since he arrived, but they'd never spoken. Prasetyo was slightly shorter and broader than Stackhouse, and acted more crisply military, at least while dealing with a superior officer.

As Prasetyo and Stackhouse took care of shift change formalities, Spencer said to Ronon, "I can take over now, too."

"No place I'd rather be."

Lokusay gave Ronon a hug. Spencer was trying to figure out if that was solely in response to Ronon's public proclamation when nen surprised Spencer even more by hugging him, reaching out slowly and then holding on. It was the way nen always hugged him, aware that he needed time to process touch. He still wasn't sure why this was a hugging moment, but he enjoyed the show of affection from his pinta.

Then nen turned to the new guard on duty and said, "Greetings, my name is Lokusay. May I ask about your name? It is the only name I've heard on Atlantis that is also a name among my people."

"Um," the young Marine looked as surprised by the question as Spencer had been by the hug. "My parents were Indonesian-American."

"Do the individual parts have any significance to Indonesian-Americans?"

"Um, not that I know of? It's not a family name the way most Americans use them. My mom and dad have different last names. In Indonesia, I'm told first names are more important and there are a lot of regional differences. I think people of Balinese heritage sometimes have first names based on birth order or other meanings. Sorry, I've never actually been to Indonesia, despite both my parents being born there."

Doestossay asked from his cell, "Why do you call yourself Indonesian-American? You only have one flag on your uniform."

Despite the neutral face Prasetyo presented as he glanced at the "prisoner," Spencer could tell he was uncomfortable. Years before, he would have jumped in to explain the history of "hyphenated Americans," but now he knew that might be ruder than ignoring the private's discomfort.

"If someone asked my nationality, I'd say American. I don't have dual citizenship or anything. But when asked about my name, appearance, or certain cultural habits I picked up at home, it's easiest to tell people I'm Indonesian-American, even though my heritage is more complicated and I don't always know which parts come from my mother's people or my father's or something they picked up or invented along the way."

"Would I be Shan Mal-Lantean? Or maybe Shan Mal-Satedan?" Lokusay asked.

The private looked to Ronon, who showed no reaction, and then to Spencer.

Spencer was pleased that he'd waited for such a clear invitation to share his perspective. "You can describe yourself however you want. However others may try to categorize you, how you state your identity is fundamentally your choice. It's flexible and can change over time or between situations. For a while, people saw so called 'hyphenated identities' like Indonesian-American as a means to assimilation. The theory was that people would arrive calling themselves Indonesian, switch to calling themselves Indonesian-American, and either they or their kids would eventually settle on simply American. But it was never truly simple. There are people who call themselves Irish-American six generations in, especially near St. Patrick's Day, even if they'd never call themselves Catholic or Catholic-American or think of it as a saint's day. African-American has become the preferred term for many Americans who are identified mostly by skin color, even if the specific origin of their ancestors is obscured due to slavery and many generations of cultural and genetic mixing. Lately, some politicians have become alarmed that a large population of recent immigrants switched from describing themselves as Hispanic-American to just Hispanic or Latino. That population is expected to include over one-quarter of all Americans by mid-century."

Doestossay asked, "Is anyone else more confused that when he started?"

"I didn't want to be less confused," Lokusay said. "I wanted to understand more. Now I do, and I have lots of new ideas on which to build more understanding." She smiled and turned to Spencer, "My first question is, didn't you describe gender and sexuality as identity issues before? When you say people's identities are flexible at different ages and situations, does that mean someone might identify as an Irish-American one year and a male-American the next year and a gay-American the year after while his best friend might identify as a gay-male-Irish-American the whole time?"

"We wouldn't usually phrase it that way, but that's the idea." Spencer could feel Ronon's amusement over their bond, and he let himself smile and relax. "I might also say someone's Irish-American identity was most salient around St. Patrick's Day, while he thought of himself primarily as male while at work in a men's clothing sale, and as gay when he was checking out a good-looking guy trying on clothes." Thinking about himself and people he'd known, Spencer added, "For a lot of people, the work they do may form their primary identity for large parts of their lives, as may any part of themselves that puts them at risk or is constantly misidentified."

"Isn't it obvious regardless of language that people have many aspects and attributes that matter more when they're useful or causing problems?" Lokusay asked.

Ronon grunted.

Prasetyo kept a carefully neutral face.

Spencer moved to sit on the floor in front of Doestossay's cell and Lokusay sat beside him. "Sometimes it's obvious and simple. Some people may go their whole life without really thinking about or questioning their identity, especially if they live in a situation where who they're perceived and expected to be is consistent and fits their identity well. But you saw how important it was to Doestossay to be seen as male and referred to by his pronouns. And now that you're around people who use different pronouns, you care about your own."

Lokusay nodded.

"It matters a lot to Ronon that he's Satedan." Spencer looked to his boyfriend to see if he wanted to elaborate.

"More Lantean sometimes than others. Fought to save Earth." Ronon said.

"Isn't the storytelling circle tomorrow supposed to be about different gifts and abilities? Is that part of identity?" Doestossay asked.

"I don't think the storytelling is going to happen, not with you in here and all the horrible things that were written on the greenhouse," Lokusay said.

"No." Doestossay stood and walked up close to the bars. "We need it even more. Everyone needs a chance to tell their stories and to hear others. If only the person who did that is heard, and if we let it discourage others from speaking, that's not fair."

Lokusay stood as well, and moved to stand closer to Doestossay, close enough to touch if there weren't bars and rules in the way. "Identifying differences may put more people at risk."

"That's their choice. I want to tell a story, even if I have to do it from here."

Lokusay and Doestossay were silent for a while, and Spencer wondered if they were using their gift to argue with each other or someone else in their cluster. Finally Lokusay said, "I'll talk to Teyla and put an announcement out tonight. Then I'll spread the word at the morning market tomorrow."

As the two fell silent again, Spencer walked over to Ronon. "Don't you have a class to lead on hand to hand combat?"

"Sheppard said to take the day off. Do this instead."

"Was he worried you'd strain your injured arm or that you'd hurt them because you're upset for your pinta?" Spencer hid a wince as he considered a third possibility. "Or that sore losers might go all anti-Satedan or anti-Pegasus natives in the current community climate?"

Ronon only grunted, keeping up his typical facade in front of Private Prasetyo, who neither of them knew well.

"Go on, at least take some time to relax. We'll be fine here. I was a trained federal agent you know?" Spencer patted the sidearm at his hip, something he rarely wore on Atlantis.

#

After a couple hours of near silence, Spencer heard heavy footsteps slapping toward them. The careless, rapid pace had him profiling whoever approached as angry before anyone was in sight. Spencer's hand automatically checked access to his sidearm, and he made a conscious decision to open up his empathy.

Private Prasetyo, on the other side of the doorway, was alert and concerned. The footsteps must have triggered similar alarms for him.

The approaching person was in fact angry, but there was an additional oily sensation across Spencer's empathy that he'd learned to associate with deception.

A tidy man in a science uniform dismissed Spencer with a glance as he stomped up and planted himself in front of Private Prasetyo. "I need to speak with the prisoner, Doestossay, about safety concerns for the greenhouse."

"Your name, sir?" Prasetyo asked.

"Dr. Toyama, exobiologist." Through the open door the scientist could see Lokusay seated on the floor. He said, "There are confidential aspects to our work. Our conversation must be private."

By that point, both Doestossay and Lokusay were quietly watching the disturbance at the door.

"I'm sure Lokusay would be happy to take a break, but we're here to guard the prisoner, as I'm sure you understand." Spencer felt the man's anger spike and knew that under no circumstances would he leave this person alone with his son. He wondered if they'd worked together in the past.

"Why are you even here? Don't you have a conflict of interest in this investigation?" Toyama turned away from Spencer without giving him a chance to answer. "I demand to speak to the prisoner alone."

"Sorry, sir. Both Dr. Reid and I are here on Major Lorne's orders and need eyes on Doestossay and anyone with him at all times. I'll also need to search you for weapons before you go in."

Spencer wondered if Dr. Parrish had been searched for weapons on his earlier visit and guessed not. Certainly, none of their family had been.

"I'll report this insolence! This is no way to treat the scientists who keep you all fed and healthy." Toyama stomped his foot but made no move to leave or report the issue now.

With his usual neutral expression the private said, "You are welcome to report to my commanding officers how I followed orders. If you'd like to enter, please stand with your arms out and feet apart as I check for weapons."

Spencer kept his attention on the search and his hand on his weapon as the other guard conducted a standard pat down.

"You're clear to enter," Prasetyo said.

"Lokusay," Spencer called, "Perhaps you could look into arrangements for dinner?"

Without a word or so much as a glance at the exobiologist, Lokusay took the route out of the room that kept the most distance between nen and Toyama at all times.

Once nen was gone, Toyama turned his back to the guard at the door and said, "Put on a shirt, boy. Why are you wandering around half naked?" As Doestossay pulled on the shirt lying at the end of his bed, the scientist continued, "I came to ask you which plants need to be destroyed to keep Atlantis safe."

Doestossay rose from his bed, standing almost as tall as the scientist outside his cell, but not moving any closer. "Dr. Toyama, none of the plants in that greenhouse are considered dangerous."

"You deny the leaves found are poisonous?"

Doestossay shrugged, a mannerism picked up from Dr. Parrish to hide when he was nervous. "They can be used to make a numbing medicine, but many food plants have parts with other properties."

"Either you're incompetent or your lying. The data page for those berry leaves clearly says they're toxic if eaten." The oily feeling surged in Spencer's mind, but he didn't need it to see the exobiologist was trying to build a case for Doestossay's removal. There was organization and premeditation behind whatever Toyama was doing. Spencer wondered if Lorne's plan to track information and assumptions by imprisoning Doestossay was paying off and how much information about the type of leaves found had been intentionally leaked by someone.

"Even animals know not to eat them." Doestossay displayed open palms, a gesture that seemed to imply good intentions or trying to compromise among his people. "A parent with a child small enough to try eating anything in reach would never leave them unattended in that greenhouse. Would you remove from Atlantis all other non-foods that are dangerous if eaten?"

"Don't play dumb with me." Toyama shook a finger angrily, but anger wasn't what he was feeling. He was boiling with frustration tinged with what Spencer thought was guilt. "You had access to all the same data I do, and those leaves are listed as a possible poison!"

"Really? That's written on the data pages?" Doestossay wasn't trying to hide his limited ability to read English. He clearly assumed it was obvious, but Toyama just as clearly missed the implication. Whatever their previous interactions, the exobiologist hadn't interacted with Doestossay enough to predict his responses or reasoning. "Dr. Parrish never mentioned that to me, although we did talk about how I'd seen various plant materials handled for mulching other crops and for the medical uses I mentioned."

Toyama took a step closer to the cell. Whatever plan he'd developed seemed to anticipate this turn at least. "So you're saying Parrish was the one trying to poison people?"

"No." Wide-eyed and confused, Doestossay took a step back, bumping into his cot. "I can't imagine who would do such a thing, but I would never believe that of Dr. Parrish."

Shaking his finger again, Toyama said, "You just claimed he hid the information from you."

"I didn't." Doestossay was visibly upset and broadcasting fear and worry now. He obviously hadn't guessed at the exobiologist's dishonorable intentions and had a number of cultural blind spots when it came to dishonesty and deception. Now the teen thought he'd done something wrong. "Perhaps this is a difference between our languages. When I say he never mentioned that to me, there is no implication of intent or responsibility. I've learned that Gate translation can confuse such things. To make an accusation in my language, I would have to say that someone chose to make leaves into a poison."

"Now you're the poor misunderstood orphan, are you?" Toyama scolded. His emotions were all over the map, from elation to rage to hope. Spencer wondered if a devolution into disorganized thinking or paranoia felt this way. "Well, I'm not falling for it. Either you or Parrish were planning to poison someone. Neither of you can be trusted, and no one will be safe here until both of you are gone from Atlantis." Toyama stomped out without giving Doestossay any chance to reply.

Once the angry scientist was decidedly out of earshot, Spencer asked Prasetyo, "Do you have a procedure for reporting new suspects? Also, I'm assuming someone is already watching Parrish as a possible secondary target."

Prasetyo allowed a slight smile to show. "The incident was recorded and transmitted. Major Lorne may have listened in live. The rest is taken care of, although I can't give you any details."

"Did I miss something? Did I mess something up?" Doestossay asked.

Spencer turned his attention to where it was needed most and felt Doestossay calm with each word. "You did great. The best performance you could give was to be your own honest self."

"You think Dr. Toyama was trying to trick me? To prove I was guilty?" There was worry in Doestossay's voice, and it hung around him like an empathic cloud.

Spencer kept his voice calm and closed off most of his empathy to give the boy some privacy. "I suspect more than that, but only time will tell for certain."

"I'm like the opposite of an analyst. Why are Earth people so tricky?" Doestossay's hands opened wide again.

Sawasay and Lokusay entered at that moment, each carrying a large tray with enough dinner for everyone.

Lokusay said, "My people are tricky, too. Different people are just tricky in different ways."

"Not all Earth cultures are the same in this, either," Spencer added. "It's impossible to say, 'I broke my arm,' in most Earth languages. Those who think in a language like English that allows such phrasing are less likely to remember whether something was done intentionally or by accident."

Setting down nen tray, Sawasay said, "What did Earth people do now?"

"Is it third shift already?" Doestossay asked instead.

Sawasay looked at him sideways long enough that even he couldn't miss that nen was letting him dodge the question. Either that or he answered silently to his cluster. "No, but I'm hoping you'll be asleep most of my shift. Besides, family dinners are important." Sawasay smirked and leaned in a way that could put nen mentor, Sheppard, to shame.

"Shouldn't someone get Ronon then?" Doestossay asked, rocking forward on his feet.

The Tracker arrived at the door taking a long sniff. "Meatloaf."

"He can find his own way to dinner," Lokusay said with a laugh that was a little high pitched and forced.

"You can take your dinner break first," Prasetyo said to Spencer.

"Are you sure?"

"That's part of why there are two of us. Besides, my parents believed in family dinners, too." The private's smile was nothing like Sawasay's smirk.

"Thank you." Spencer went to sit with his family on the floor. He loaded a plate for Doestossay, and Private Prasetyo let him in and out of the cell to deliver it. The teen clasped Spencer's hand and smiled as he took the food, letting the steam and smell rise to his nose.

Once they were all settled with servings of meatloaf, vegetables, and something the KP crew called "tumbleweeds" that tasted a bit like dried seaweed, Doestossay said, "I've been thinking about something. It's like identity but for groups."

"Cultural identity?" Spencer asked.

"I guess. We didn't have a term for it where I came from, but I told you before that people there were mostly honest. Up front with each other. Blunt." Doestossay paused to shovel in two large bites of meatloaf. "Well, they prided themselves on being that way. I think there's a whole part of my identity built around that, stuff I took for granted until I came here."

The way Lokusay and Sawasay were nodding along, implied they'd already heard some of this. Spencer wondered if the explanation now was for his benefit or Ronon's. Looking at the set of Doestossay's shoulders, Spencer didn't think it was leading up to anything terrible. Doestossay gave every appearance of being relaxed in his cell, although separated from his family by bars. Muscles around his mouth and eyes suggested he was a little sad underneath, but Spencer did his best not to profile their son. He generally locked down his empathic shields to not intrude on his family's intentions or emotions.

"You've got your thinking face on already," Doestossay said, catching Spencer out.

"Am I ever not thinking?"

"Maybe it's your analyst face." Doestossay looked at him for longer than usual, as if trying to map the expression or find better words to describe it.

"Sorry," Spencer said.

"You should find us that book on matching muscle groups to emotions," Sawasay put in.

"I asked the librarian when I was picking out books for Dado. She didn't have access to a copy of the facial coding system but suggested I ask the psychologists."

"And you wouldn't mind if one or all of us learned it?" Doestossay asked.

"Of course not." Spencer was surprised any of them would question his support for their learning whatever caught their interest. It was something they teased him about, but always in a nice way.

"Even if it helped us read your emotions better?" Lokusay asked, waving a fork full of vegetables side to side in nen "no offence" gesture.

"I'd never want to limit you that way," Spencer said sincerely.

"Then why do you apologize for thinking like an analyst or using whatever skills or gifts you have to know us better?" Doestossay asked.

Spencer realized the previous questions had been leading up to that question. It clearly mattered to the teen, and showed that even someone open and honest could manipulate, or at least lead, a conversation. But Spencer still didn't know how to put his alien perspective into words. "It doesn't seem fair. I don't want to violate your privacy."

"You're always talking about how everyone has different perspectives to offer. How each of us builds on what we have to be better at what we do." Lokusay spun a green tumbleweed on nen fork.

"Is it because you think of us as kids?" Doestossay asked.

"Actually, I think of you as indeterminate in age. Ever since Ronon taught me the Satedan concept of his suss age being 26 based on social experience while he was 33 years old by Earth standards, it's been easy for me to think of Pegasus natives as representing various ages at the same time. So I can think of you all as adults, young people, teens or kids in a way that I hope makes me more accepting of whoever you choose to be or need me to understand. But you should let me know if it's ever a problem."

Ronon grunted and jostled Spencer's arm.

With a smile Doestossay said, "I'm amused that you think I'm entitled to more entertainment because I might not be an adult by some measures. But I'm not complaining." He patted the pile of books with Spencer's own five by five Rubik's Cube on top.

"Did you bring this up because of Dr. Toyama's visit?" Spencer asked.

"Only a little. As we settle in as a family, I want to keep the parts I like from my cultural identity, I guess. But I need you to let me tell you what those parts are. Mostly, I want to know how you see me and how that fits into your cultural identity, I guess. Maybe your personal identity, too." Mixing the remaining food on his plate together, Doestossay continued, "You know things. You criticize your own social skills, but you've taught me more about people since I came here than I learned in my whole life before. I've learned the most about Lokusay, but I've learned the most from you." He smiled shyly at Spencer. Then he looked to Ronon. "You know you've given me the most in other ways, right?"

"Don't worry about me." Ronon reached over to steal a tumbleweed from Spencer's plate, then dragged it though the sauce left from his own meatloaf. Ronon had somehow managed to clear most of his plate while Spencer had barely eaten a dozen bites.

"Yeah, right." The gears in Doestossay's mind were almost visibly catching as he paused, remembering that Ronon played dumb, or at least strong and silent, in public sometimes. "For now, I need to make clear that whatever happens with the justice system here, I want to be informed and make my own choices, like an adult."

"That's fair," Spencer said.

"But I like having my family care for me." He met Lokusay's eyes with those words, and Sawasay leaned in, too. But Doestossay's words were mostly addressed to Spencer and Ronon. "If sometimes you see me as needing care you would associate with a child or people at different ages or stages of development, I'm good with that. I trust you to mean well and ask for consent when needed or present me with choices you see more clearly than I do. Trust that I'll tell you to back off or to give me more freedom when I need it, and I'll trust that you'll listen when needed."

Spencer nodded. He was being asked to give Doestossay privacy on his terms, not Spencer's. "I appreciate that. I've learned a great deal since all of you came into my life." He glanced around at the family he'd never expected to have. "I don't think I could say who I've learned the most from. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable saying even if I could measure that."

"Which is fine, because that's about you and other people," Doestossay said. He spoke quickly as if to keep his point from escaping, as if conscious he was leading this conversation. "I'm guessing you've learned the most from Ronon, who I couldn't be jealous of. But I'd guess Sawasay next after that, and it wouldn't bother me if you said so. The two of you have some parts of thinking and culture in common that I never will. But you tell me more."

Sawasay nodded as if this was old news to nen and nen totally agreed. Nen plate was empty, but nen ate a tumbleweed off Lokusay's as naturally as from nen own.

"That said, Sawasay doesn't worry the way you do. I wish you wouldn't worry so much, especially about invading my privacy. If you can see me better, using whatever skills or gifts you have, I don't want you to hold back. It's important to me that you not worry about that."

The way Doestossay emphasized and enunciated the last sentence told Spencer it was important, possibly the point of this whole conversation. He still felt like he might be missing something. He opened his empathy to try to understand Doestossay as well as he could. Fear surrounded everything, but it was the constant background fear of a kid in a cell who didn't understand as much about the world around him as he wanted to. Looking into eyes that made no effort to avoid his own, Spencer said, "Can you tell me why this matters so much to you?"

"Yes. Or at least I'll keep trying." Doestossay half smiled and his desire to communicate cut through the fear. He sat up straighter, his own food forgotten for the moment. "Keeping something private from family feels like—" Spencer felt the shame even as his son said, "being ashamed to me. I can cover up my skin when I cross from the bathroom to my room if you think it's more sanitary or if it keeps me warm. But even hiding my body feels like I'm doing something bad sometimes."

"I can deal with nudity in our home or with just family, if you want," Spencer said.

"Good. I thought you'd understand that one. And don't worry, I won't be more than half naked most of the time." Doestossay took his shirt off again before scooping together the rest of his food and eating it like improvised stew.

Lokusay laughed. Spencer was pretty sure nen found Earth people ridiculously prudish. Nen community on Shan Mal certainly had no issue with varying forms and degrees of body covering as well as most freedoms of expression. While he could feel amusement and acceptance vibrating along their bond, Ronon and Sawasay showed no reaction. Spencer wondered about Sawasay's views on nudity and privacy and promised himself he'd ask later.

Once his plate was clear, Doestossay looked to Lokusay before continuing, "If I become sexually intimate with someone, I won't do anything in front of you, because I'm not into that, but I'd like to know I could tell you. Obviously, there's no risk of unplanned pregnancy." There was no anger or self-pity in that reference to Doestossay's body modifications, forced or chosen, just honest appraisal. "Lokusay has already taught me more about STDs on Atlantis than any non-medical person could ever want to know, and for now we're both happy with physical intimacy that's not tied to sex. But you know, there are others our age who are basically married, and we don't have the same ideas about age of consent as Earth people do."

They'd told Spencer enough about their cluster to reveal that one of their bond mates was effectively married and that sexual arousal sometimes passed through their bond. Being honest with himself, Spencer did not want to think about psychic orgies involving his adopted son and his bond mates. But Spencer knew he'd feel that way even if he thought of Doestossay as eighteen or any arbitrary age of consent. In the early days of the United States, ages of consent had varied between ten and twelve in different states. Spencer had been powerfully enraged when he'd heard a sexual predator use that as justification, but it also made him recognize the strength of his own cultural biases.

It was something of a relief to know that Doestossay and Lokusay were able to share so much other intimacy without feeling they had to rush into sex. Nonetheless, he felt they were asking for his approval. "Even if we lived on Earth, I would want to be the sort of parent who'd say that if you're going to have sex anyway, I'd rather you do so safely at home—and knowing you could talk to me about it—than ever make you feel ashamed or encouraged to take risks with yourself or others."

"Yeah," Ronon said, and bumped Spencer's shoulder.

When no one said anything else, Spencer decided to be a bit more open himself. "Honestly, I was the sort of teenager who mostly felt protected by laws my people had saying I couldn't have sex until I was eighteen. I think both of you handle this with more maturity that I possessed when I first had sex, even though I was probably physically older than you by that time."

"Huh."

They all turned toward the doorway to face Prasetyo, who half smiled, permitting himself a sheepish show of embarrassment after what Spencer judged was an unintentional exclamation. "I couldn't help but overhear and, well, I never knew any parents like that. My first time was in a very unpleasant and probably not so safe alley behind a club I was too young to be at. If I ever have kids, I'm going to ask them to come home and be safe, if they're really going to do something anyway. I'd rather my kids be like your dad and decide to wait until later. But I didn't. So I get it."

"Are you teaching the Marines sex ed again?" McKay complained even as nen rushed into the room and stopped to look down at their mostly finished family dinner on the floor. "You could probably bring chairs and a table in here, you know? Never mind. Important question. Why is there an exobiologist in my lab complaining about unsafe plants? I don't think I've ever seen this person before, and he's claiming I'm in charge of your greenhouse." McKay turned nen stare on Doestossay, who once again stood up from his cot to face the person speaking to him.

"From what Dr. Parrish told me, as Head of Science, I believe you have authority over all botany projects." Doestossay stood quietly as he had with Dr. Toyama.

"Parrish, that's who Toy-mana should be complaining to." McKay snapped nen fingers and then looked surprised that nen didn't have a tablet or other gadget in hand.

"I'm sorry, Dr. McKay," Doestossay said solemnly, "but I think Dr. Toyama is suspicious of—or maybe angry at?—Dr. Parrish, too."

"I don't have time for this. Whoever painted on the greenhouse was an idiot, by the way. I have Kusanagi looking into those drones. Meanwhile, I have Satedan armor to backwards engineer." McKay had half turned to leave when nen stopped, eyes on Ronon. "I found some pages torn from a book shoved between the padding and armor. If you come by my lab, the writing might be Satedan."

Ronon looked at Spencer. Spencer shrugged, "I'm still on guard duty."

Sawasay stood up, straightening the combination of leather jacket and BDUs that passed as nen work clothes. Nen weapons were already strapped on. "My shift starts in an hour, and I wasn't planning to leave anyway. You should both go look."

"Are you sure?" Spencer asked.

Nen fixed him with a truly impressive eye roll. "Family dinner was over anyway. It's Prasetyo's turn to eat." Sure enough, another Marine was standing at the door with two covered meal trays.

Prasetyo took a tray, and asked Spencer, "You want an extra?"

Before Spencer could decline, McKay said, "They brought you two dinners and no one brought me any?" Nen grabbed the tray from the new Marine's hands saying, "I'll take that." Then nen hustled out the door leaving Ronon and Spencer to follow behind.

#

Before touching the folded pages in McKay's lab, Spencer asked, "Did someone log this as evidence and check for fingerprints or trace chemicals already?"

"Your forensics duo, who I think are supposed to work for me, by the way, had a field day with scans and photos. They told me to get a translation. As if that's part of analyzing the armor. By the way, the technology here—Not Ancient. Not Genii. Whoever made the Satedan armor was onto something different with energy diffusion." When Ronon grunted, McKay said, "Was I insensitive? You know that's as close as I get to a compliment, right?"

"Thanks, McKay." Ronon's sarcasm was so obvious that Spencer wondered how anyone on Atlantis missed it.

"Good then, you're welcome." McKay was already hunching over a Satedan shoulder plate with alligator clips and wires hooked all around as nen wolfed down dinner. "Does it say anything useful?"

As Ronon smoothed three clean white printed pages flat, Spencer read over his shoulder. "I think we need a meeting with Sheppard at least to discuss this."

"What? Really?" McKay's head popped up to stare at them briefly. Then nen tapped nen radio, "Sheppard, Reid says we need a meeting." After a long pause the scientist said, "He's meeting with Teyla in her quarters and says we're all invited there. Let me save all these readings to my tablet." After a couple minutes of McKay fiddling with wires while Ronon and Spencer read, McKay disconnected nen tablet from everything else laid out on the table.

The physicist started out the door already talking into nen radio again, "Carson, you have to save me from Teyla's tea. I ate a healthy dinner and everything. Could you bring hot chocolate to our meeting in Teyla's room?" As they reached the transporter, Ronon smiled and ducked his head toward McKay as if to say whatever he was overhearing from the radio was amusing. "I thought John had called you. Of course we need you, for medical expertise and stuff." By the time they exited the transporter McKay was wheedling, "I bet Ronon and Spencer would think better with hot chocolate, too. They need all the help they can get, and chocolate is a fruit, you know?"

It was only when Teyla greeted them at her door, that Spencer realized he'd never been to her place. She lived in a different tower than their family, in a suite at ground level. The colored glass doors at the back of her living room opened onto a shared play area with mostly wooden structures other than a bright orange plastic slide that couldn't have been more than four feet tall. Spencer smiled as he wondered who'd ordered that delivery from Earth. Torren and Kanaan were nowhere to be seen, but an elaborate set of large wooden unit blocks formed a crenelated barricade at one corner near the back doors. The rest of the room was covered in woven rugs and pillows in warm colors.

Sheppard sat on a brick-toned pillow by a low wooden table and was in fact drinking tea. "Hey, Rodney. Carson called to see if we wanted him for anything other than hot chocolate service."

"And?" McKay asked, kicking off shoes and gathering three seemingly specific pillows from various parts of the room. Nen arranged the pillows carefully before settling next to Sheppard.

"I told him we wanted him for his mind as well, but to please bring hot chocolate so you wouldn't whine."

McKay shifted nen leg to overlap with Sheppard's. "That's why they put you in charge of people and me in charge of tech."

"Does Dr. Toyama know you're not in charge of people?" Spencer asked. He'd removed his own shoes and sat down next to Ronon on a plush maroon pillow.

"You're watching that guy, right?" McKay asked.

Teyla replied calmly as she seated herself across the table, "Lorne has him under surveillance along with the greenhouse and food services."

"Should Lorne be at this meeting?" Spencer asked.

As if on cue, Lorne arrived carrying a large pot already filled with liquid, along with Beckett, who carried a tray of toppings including whipped cream.

Teyla rose and helped them set up in the kitchen, "Would either of you care for tea?"

"Very much so, thanks," Beckett replied.

Lorne said, "I think I'll wait for hot chocolate this time, thanks."

As Sheppard tried to push McKay's leg away, the scientist grumbled, "He doesn't care, why should you?" But when Sheppard pushed again, McKay settled so their legs only pressed together rather than overlapping. Then Beckett served hot chocolate and McKay pulled him close on nen other side. "Now this almost makes it worth leaving my lab. Besides, the Toy Man will never find us here."

Teyla lowered her chin and waited for McKay to meet her eyes. "I realize it is your way of releasing bad feelings, but could you please avoid mocking the names of those under investigation?"

"Mocking? Who? Whoever it was is clearly not worthy of remembering." McKay set down nen hot chocolate to pull out a tablet. "More importantly, the Satedan armor we collected uses an irregular porous structure to diffuse certain forms of energy in a simple but effective manner. At first I thought it was a chance outcome of whatever process was used to form the metal, but most such processes would form a regular texture that would diffuse energy in only one or very few directions. If there's a pattern to the scattering in that armor, I can't find it." He paused. "Which means there isn't one, because I would have found it. Ronon, please tell me they took Satedan school kids to tour the armor factory?"

Ronon huffed. "Military secrets were closely guarded. The process may never have been written down."

"Then again," Spencer said, "the information we found written in Satedan about Atlantis, should never have been left lying around either."

As Spencer laid out the creased pages again, Sheppard asked, "Where did those come from?"

"Between the padding and the armor," McKay said.

"And you told them before me?"

"I got first dinner and now hot chocolate this way."

Spencer thought it might help him understand certain Earth people better to think of them as representing various ages in different aspects as well. When it came to anything chocolate, McKay acted more like a kid. Although it was possible chocolate brought out something childlike in a lot of people, or that might be another of Spencer's cultural biases. There was no indication the Mayans or Aztecs who originated the drinking of hot chocolate had in any way associated it with children.

Sheppard sounded more than a little childish when he protested, "I'm supposed to be in charge of investigating the invasion."

"And Lorne's in charge of investigating the greenhouse and the kid whose parents are the only people on this city who can read Satedan, aside from the invaders." McKay enlarged the structural scan of the armor on nen tablet.

"Ronon," Spencer asked, "the paper these pages are printed on isn't like any of the books you brought back from Sateda. But the evenly spaced indents on the side suggest the pages were torn from a book, probably with an evenly sewn binding. Do you know where they might have printed such books on such paper?"

"Never saw anything like it on Sateda."

"I haven't seen any printed material with that sort of binding on Atlantis. But this information should have been more closely guarded than the secrets of Satedan armor. Could someone else have translated an Ancient document into Satedan, printed, and bound it?" Spencer asked.

"Wait, slow down," Sheppard asked, sitting up from his eternal slouch. "What Ancient document should have been more closely guarded?

"Instructions to override our Gate shield and activate the Lantean lockout device without mental control, meaning without the ATA gene." Spencer warmed his hands around his cup of hot chocolate feeling suddenly cold. "Is the Gate powered up again?"

"Yes, but we changed all the codes." McKay switched screens on nen tablet. Spencer wasn't sure if nen was checking on the Gate or pursuing something else about the armor.

"It won't matter." Spencer said, scanning the pages of Satedan writing again. "Whatever changed after the crew of the Tria used the lock out device may have made part of these instructions obsolete, but if there are other copies of whatever book this came from, our Gate shield might still be vulnerable."

"You're saying someone made a back door for people without even the ATA gene to take over Atlantis and wrote it down?" McKay set down nen tablet and focused nen full attention on Spencer and Ronon. "Read it to me."

Ronon picked up the pages and began to read aloud. The explanation of how to piggyback a signal from a dialing device to avoid the Gate shield made little sense to Spencer, but McKay's mouth dropped open at a critical point.

"That wasn't written by the Ancients. And I think I know how the Satedans made this armor." McKay picked up nen hot chocolate and drank the last of it down. "We need to go to Sateda."

"What, now?" Sheppard asked.

McKay hastily grabbed up nen tablet and with two taps said, "It's light there now."

"What if our prisoners were advanced scouts for an army that's waiting on Sateda?" Sheppard asked.

"Then someone else in that army probably knows how to bypass our Gate shield," McKay snapped. "Ronon, do you know where weapon research and testing was done?"

"The Wraith took out military targets first."

"Even scraps from whatever made this armor could help. Of course, instructions would be better. Some sort of frequency modulator." McKay began to pace. "Satedan ships didn't have any sort of cloaking device, did they? Wait, those Satedan grenades, the ones that took down whole buildings, did we bring any of those back to Atlantis?"

"What, you mean after those creeps called Ronon 'Wraithbringer' and had the Wraith take him back to fight on Sateda?" Sheppard asked in a sarcastic drawl.

"Or when my team escorted him back to Sateda to gather a couple boxes full of books?" Lorne asked with an almost straight face as he met Ronon's eyes more seriously.

"Not from either of those trips," Ronon said as he pushed himself up from the floor, jostling Spencer and his hot chocolate. Luckily it didn't spill. Ronon was out the door before Spencer had time to consider and decide against following him.

As the rest looked at each other in silence, Spencer said, "Do you think it would be alright for me to bring our pinta hot chocolate?"

#

Spencer made it back from delivering hot chocolate before Ronon returned. The room was silent again, but Spencer could tell from body language, at least McKay's and Beckett's, that they'd been talking about Ronon and possibly more in his absence. "If you want me to wait outside so you can discuss something, I understand my family disqualifies me from being involved in some parts of these investigations."

"Please stay, Spencer." Teyla motioned to his previous spot by the low table. "Some concerns were expressed about going ahead with storytelling plans for tomorrow. It was suggested that Doestossay might be at more risk if he were free by then to attend, but it could also draw out further suspects. While Major Lorne and I hope to wrap up at least part of the investigation tomorrow, I proposed that hosting the storytelling in a meaningful but defensible location might draw any further unrest to the surface."

"She wants to host storytelling in the cellblock." Lorne's tone made it clear he was not sold on the idea.

"There would be too many people for Doestossay's room," Spencer spoke his thinking aloud. "If we let people sit along the far side of the hall facing toward Doestossay's room, they might reach all the way to the cells where the three new Satedans are held. I'm sure Dado would appreciate hearing the stories, and I don't think it would hurt his mother's view of us. I haven't had enough contact with the third person to develop a profile, but with these mysterious pages to investigate, it would certainly help if we could build trust and speak with them."

"You think this is a good idea? Letting whoever wants to attend that close to your son?" Lorne asked.

Spencer couldn't bring himself to say "Doestossay's cell," so he said, "The forcefields on the other cells, would they keep weapons from firing in as well as out?"

Sheppard and Lorne looked at each other. Then Sheppard said, "There's a setting for that."

"And Doestossay could be protected the same way?"

Sheppard nodded.

Ronon walked back in carrying a Satedan grenade. It looked like a hybrid between a US military grenade and an oil lamp with a red ball inside. As Ronon held what was presumably a live grenade out toward McKay he asked, "You sure about this?"

#

Back in their quarters that night, Spencer sat with Ronon and Lokusay in front of an artificial fire. It was beautiful in ways more mathematical than natural. While it didn't provide much warmth, Spencer was pressed comfortably between the other two.

Lokusay yawned and asked, "You didn't have to go to Sateda because you gave McKay a grenade you stashed on Atlantis years ago?"

"Yeah. He took some readings and ran away," Ronon said.

"It helped him figure out how the Gate shield could be jammed with an extra signal coming through as someone dialed the Gate. I didn't understand the entire explanation, but it was similar to piggybacking a transmission within a data frame. While McKay still doesn't know how the Satedan device transformed the near random numbers for creating metal that dissipates energy weapons, he deduced that the same device probably generated the basis of encryption for the shield jamming signal." Spencer felt Lokusay slump against him.

"Maybe you can tell me again when I'm less tired," nen said.

"Will you be okay sleeping alone?" Spencer asked. He wasn't sure exactly when Doestossay slept in Lokusay's bed rather than his own, but with Sawasay gone to guard Doestossay, even Spencer was feeling the emptiness around them.

"Benefit of being in a cluster, I never truly have to sleep alone."

For a moment, Spencer felt stupid for forgetting. In the next, he felt honored that nen would speak so openly to them about such a closely guarded and private matter. "I'm glad," he said. "Still, remember that you can always wake us up if needed."

"Okay." For several minutes nen lay quietly against Spencer's side. Then nen crawled forward to hug Ronon as well before wandering off to bed.

Spencer knew that he and Ronon should get some sleep, too. If they had the energy, they could talk through all that had happened since they'd been confronted about poisonous leaves that morning. At the very least, Spencer needed to ask Ronon why he had a grenade hidden on Atlantis and why Sheppard and Lorne hadn't acted particularly concerned or surprised.

Instead he relaxed into the warm body beside him. Their bond was always active, but Spencer let it open more completely as he loosened some of his own empathic shielding. He felt safe and loved with Ronon beside him and hoped that feeling came across to his lover as well, rather than his anxiety and racing mind. A warm pulse like a hug or a laugh met that thought.

"In Satedan poetry, fire was mostly a symbol of peace." Ronon pulled Spencer closer. "We didn't have fireplaces, so they weren't a place for Sherlock to interview or speculate. A couple rarely had a fire to themselves, so they weren't much associated with romance—or time windows like in that Doctor Who story."

"The Girl in the Fireplace," Spencer supplied. "But I don't think fire is especially associated with time travel otherwise. The Egyptians connected it to protection and power, Christians and Jews to divinity, Freud and others to sex."

Ronon playfully laid a hand on Spencer's ass. Spencer shifted forward to kiss him, but neither of them moved to take it any farther.

"Why peace?" Spencer asked.

"Fires are easy to spot. They give away your location once lit, and tie you to a location before that, long enough to collect wood." Stroking along the side of Spencer that was warm from the fire, Ronon said, "In poetry, they remind us of all we have. Wood. Time. Security and peace. Safety enough to gather together and make noise and give up your night vision. Despite all that happened today, this reminds me that the war against the Wraith is over. I don't need to run. I can trust Teyla and Lorne to protect my son and protect the peace here, where I have you, our pinta, and a fireplace."

 

"You're my favorite poet. I love you."

"I love you, too."

For a long while they sat together, staring at the lights that weren't quite fire, not needing words. Together.

#


	3. Chapter 3

At morning market the next day, Spencer let Lokusay take the lead. It was just after dawn, and Spencer enjoyed the way early sunlight reflected off of the damp east pier. He'd spent most of his mornings here before he had a family that liked waking up to breakfast in their own kitchen. (Or leftovers from breakfast, since they rarely all woke at the same time.)

A couple of Athosian girls, one the infamous Merel who was supposedly avoiding Doestossay and another named Pelna, rushed to intercept Lokusay.

"Good morning, please joins us for tea," Pelna said, leaning forward to touch foreheads with Lokusay and giving a polite glance to include Spencer in the invitation.

"We missed you, neny." Merel pulled Lokusay into a quick hug, that didn't fit with Spencer's cultural knowledge of either the Athosians or the hill people of Shan Mal. His mind spun off into tangents about adolescents as the propagators of slang, creoles, and mannerism shifts.

The next thing he knew he sat at the end of a table full of young people, cradling a cup of warm Athosian tea in his hands. Lokusay was passing out embroidered rectangles that hung from large safety pins that Spencer would have called diaper pins on Earth. He had no idea how they came to have a supply on Atlantis or how Lokusay had gotten a hold of so many.

First nen handed out pins with the outlines of two faces pressed together at the foreheads. The image was simple, captured the common Athosian greeting gesture, and looked a bit like the letter "A" in Earth's Roman alphabet. Several youths around the table pinned the Athosian symbols to their shoulders. Then Lokusay gave a boy whose parents had defected from the Genii and who had been adopted by Athosians after a culling what looked like a symbol for the Genii military uniform. He pinned it beneath his Athosian badge. There were three other symbols that Spencer couldn't immediately place that others pinned beneath their Athosian symbols. He didn't know if so many had been adopted after cullings or if they each had a parent from another culture.

Lokusay pinned onto nen own shoulder an image of hills that had been carved on the front of the community building nen people used on Shan Mal. Then nen pinned on a U-shaped symbol Spencer recognized from Satedan armor and government book bindings. Beneath both nen pinned the word "nen" embroidered in English. Nen passed a youth at the end another "nen" and each of the others a "he" or "she" pin.

"I'll leave some spares I haven't promised to others with Namar," Lokusay said. "It would be great if people could wear them to storytelling tonight, even if you don't choose to wear them every day. Let me know what more I need to make."

Spencer watched silently, not wanting to interfere. He felt honored to be present as his pinta shared nen creations and showed nen agency in the group. At the same time, he realized how independent and grown up nen already was. Spencer had first heard the pins mentioned two days before when McKay came for lunch, and he hadn't been offered a pin for himself. His finger traced along the bracelet Lokusay had given him at their naming ceremony, and he knew that was more than enough.

"These are lovely, Lokusay. Thank you," Namar said as a stack of extras were passed to him.

That seemed to be the cue others needed to offer their thanks or more excited praise for Lokusay's artistry.

Then talk turned to the upcoming storytelling. "We need to make sure everyone knows it is happening tonight," Namar said. "Stories about individuals using their gifts, talents, or whatever makes them special are most encouraged."

"I'll check in with the baker and others who might make snacks," Merel volunteered.

"We all know you are hoping to get early samples," the youth beside her teased.

Merel giggled and smiled wide, as if proud of her forethought.

"Sawasay is telling nen military friends and posted something on their bulletin boards," Lokusay mentioned.

"I covered the usual science networks and calendars," Namar said. "Teyla spoke with the elders and with parents at the children's center."

"Remind everyone you can of how to stay safe if there's violence," Lokusay said.

"Believe but don't belittle. Protect but don't engage." Spencer recognized the words were not said in Athosian, Satedan, or any Earth language. Then he realized the boy who spoke was the one with a Genii symbol. Spencer wondered what his parents had taught him about their resistance and defection that he wore a Genii symbol and quoted guidelines for peaceful protest in what Spencer guessed was the Genii language.

#

On their walk home, after they'd spoken to many more groups than just the young people at the morning market, Lokusay reached out to Spencer with something in nen hand. "These are for you if you want them."

There was a Satedan pin and one that said "he."

"Thank you. They're wonderful." Spencer took the pins and gave her hand a squeeze before letting go. "I loved seeing you share them and discuss plans with your friends."

"If you want a flag for the United States, the commissary has extras for uniforms that don't have that part."

"Would you want a flag for the United States?" Spencer asked.

"If it matters to you. Otherwise, I think our family bracelets and these are enough for now." Nen touched each in turn. "Ronon wants more Satedans because he lost so many and was alone for so long. I'm happy to help carry on Satedan traditions and the language, but the United States doesn't need my help."

"They don't know what they're missing." Spencer bumped their arms together lightly. "You definitely don't need one for my sake. However you feel about it is fine, but if you ever want to claim the United States, Earth, or Atlantis as part of your identity, or even if you just feel it would be politically useful for what you're trying to accomplish here, I'll defend your right to claim that heritage as part of my family."

"I know." Lokusay took his hand and held it for the rest of their walk home.

#

With Teyla running the arbitration, the three sides of the triangular meeting table didn't represent opposing groups. She'd seated everyone as they arrived such that each had at least a partial ally to one side and someone who wouldn't attack them on the other, but no clear grouping beyond that. Lorne sat beside one corner, followed by Toyama, Toyama's wife, Spencer, and Lokusay. Around the next corner Sheppard, Gardini, Teyla, McKay, and Oni lined the side facing the door. The next began with Woo, then Sawasay, Ronon, Doestossay, and Parrish finishing up at the corner seat nearest to Lorne. Woolsey stopped by to express his support for Teyla's leadership and say he'd make himself available later if needed. Private Prasetyo guarded the door.

"I welcome you all and appreciate this opportunity to seek reconciliation together," Teyla began. "While a few people must speak early to share information we will all need, I assure you that everyone will have one or more turns. Our goal today is to understand the full impact of events and agree on restitutions or changes to be made. To that end, we will begin with an overview from Major Lorne, followed by clarifications from Drs. Oni and Woo based on further investigations. I trust that everyone present will give full respect and attention to each of them and to all who voice their concerns and injuries afterward."

Lorne took over smoothly, describing the damage to the smaller greenhouse, including images projected on the meeting room wall showing the graffiti and the three-step cleaning process that took up full shifts for eight military personnel, in addition to those needed for guard duty and investigations. None of that was news to Spencer, so he used the time to observe each person at the table using both behavior analysis techniques and his empathic gifts.

Dr. Oni took over smoothly but provided no visuals and looked nervously down at the table as he spoke. "A box containing dried leaves and two metal tea balls was found in the greenhouse tool shed after the vandalism incident. The leaves were confirmed to come from a berry bush grown in the greenhouse and to be a known paralytic that could potentially stop respiration if eaten or consumed as very strong tea. There were no fingerprints found on the box or any contents, although comparison items tested in the greenhouse all yielded at least partial prints, most often from Doestossay. The tea balls were confirmed to have been taken from the mess hall supply, no more than a week ago. The moisture content of the leaves and traces found in a sample oven in the life science main lab are consistent with the leaves being baked there for approximately two hours the night before. No fingerprints were found on the sample oven. Comparison items tested from the life sciences lab yielded fingerprints from five science staff, including Dr. Parrish and Dr. Gardini but not including Doestossay or Dr. Toyama."

He nodded to Dr. Woo who sat forward and looked around the table as she spoke. "Fingerprints taken from information sheets on the berry strain in question, which were kept in the botany storage area, were matched to Dr. Toyama. There were also partial prints that could match Dr. Parrish, but results were inconclusive. No fingerprints were found on the drones used to deface the greenhouse, however Dr. Kusanagi found a previous copy of the programming specifying areas and words to be painted had been entered and then erased from Dr. Toyama's personal account. Traces of the paint used were found on Dr. Gardini's shoe, the floor of his room, two spots in the hallway nearest his quarters, and a community laundry bin. The paint used came from a maintenance closet near drone storage, but drone navigation software showed they'd been flown down to a basement level at 0100, or 1 AM, on the morning of the incident, to a room where traces of paint were also found on the floor. Fingerprints for both Drs. Toyama and Gardini were found in that room."

"Thank you." Teyla nodded toward Woo, Oni, and finally Lorne. Then she turned to Dr. Toyama's wife, the one person present Spencer had not met before. She waited for the other woman to meet her eyes, and then nodded to her. "Dr. Akari Toyama, when I spoke with you yesterday, you said your husband, Dr. Shinobu Toyama was home with you from before midnight until after dawn the night before the incident. In light of what we just heard, could you classify exactly when you saw him at home and when you might have been asleep? Or any other details you can remember."

Spencer felt a spike of fear from the woman before she began. Her voice was rough, her hands clenched tightly together on the table. "We had each returned to our own work after dinner. My office is in oceanography; his, in exobiology. I had hoped for us to make a video for my nephew that night, but Shinobu said he was too busy. We make it a point to always go to bed together, before midnight, unless there is a true emergency. Shinobu and I did not really talk that evening, but he prepared for and went to bed as usual. I was probably asleep within an hour. When I woke to use the bathroom, probably three or four hours later, Shinobu was asleep in our bed as expected. I saw no sign he had left, and I am not a heavy sleeper. I doubt he could have left and returned without waking me."

Spencer knew she was lying, at least in part, from the oily layer he felt over her fear. His mind raced with possibilities, but he kept silent out of respect for Teyla and her investigation.

"Thank you for being so candid." Teyla nodded and Akari nodded along. "Do you know if your husband has much experience programming the Ancient drones, for his work or anything else?"

The woman's left shoulder twitched toward her husband, as if she wanted to turn and consult him, but Teyla held her gaze until Akari answered, "Not that I know of."

"Do you use them for your work in oceanography?"

"Occasionally." Another spike of fear hit Spencer, this time from both the Toyamas at once.

"How often?" Teyla asked.

"Maybe once a month. It varies depending on my projects."

"Could you tell me how you clean the drones after each use?"

"There's an automatic cleaning feature when they re-enter the city."

"And where is it they re-enter the city?"

There was a hesitation, and even without knowing the context, Spencer could tell the witness saw where this line of questioning was leading. He sensed an uncharacteristic confidence, almost like gloating, radiating from Teyla, and toned his gift down a bit to lessen the invasion of her privacy.

"Drone access three, below the East pier," Dr. Akari Toyama enunciated clearly, honestly, despairingly.

"When you have programmed drones in the past, have you always ended your instructions with them returning to access three and activating the automatic cleaning feature?"

"Yes," the oceanographer's voice was flat.

"Do you know if any other departments outside of oceanography standardly use that same command and access?"

Only at that point did Shinobu Toyama echo his wife's despair. His realization was tied to indignation and a burst of negativity Spencer tentatively labeled as denial.

"I have no idea." The oceanographer's knuckles were white and tension reached up through her arms to her shoulders and neck. Everything Spencer observed agreed she'd truly never questioned the protocols she used until Teyla started asking. There were tears forming in her eyes, and Spencer knew she was about to break.

Teyla apparently knew as well. "Please, tell me whatever you can about helping your husband program the drones."

No tears fell, but the witness broke. "I only found out that night. He said this would lead to more jobs for young scientists from Earth. We had promised to help my nephew who's just starting out in marine biology. Shinobu convinced me this was free speech, something the Americans in charge of Atlantis would respond to. It is very unfair how hard it is to bring scientists here from Earth while locals with no qualifications reap all the benefits."

"I understand," Teyla said. "You admit you knew ahead of time and did nothing to stop your husband and Dr. Gardini from painting hate speech on the greenhouse?"

"I did." Akari's head dropped, but she made no sounds. Her husband sat stone-faced beside her.

Shinobu and Parrish both opened their mouths to speak, but Teyla preempted them by saying, "Let us now pass once around the circle with each person stating any personal grievances. There will be more passes later to discuss restitutions or larger community impacts. Please take this as a chance to briefly state the impact on yourself. Any who wish to may pass on this turn." She motioned to Gardini at her side.

"It was free speech." Gardini huffed and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. "Their nephew, my former grad student, probably a million people on Earth are better qualified to work here. I want a fair chance to bring more scientists from Earth to Pegasus. I should be able to run my own greenhouse rather than some alien kid. If this is what it took to make our leaders listen, it was a small price to pay." He scowled pointedly at Sheppard beside him.

"Sounds like we have a pretty good idea who was programming drones, loading paint, and drying poisonous leaves the night before the greenhouse incident," Sheppard said, without acknowledging Gardini's anger or even shifting from his relaxed sprawl in the conference room chair. "I haven't heard anything against the people actually running our greenhouses. What I personally want to know is if this had anything to do with the Satedans invading that day or if that's just the luck of the Ancients. Or at least our luck since we came here."

Lokusay came next, sitting up tall and fierce. "I am hurt by the insult Dr. Gardini delivered to my bond mate. Doestossay has studied agriculture such as the plants in that greenhouse all his life. As a Pegasus native, I am also offended by the assumption that our life experiences and apprenticeships are less worthy than those of scientists from Earth."

Knowing his input would be more valuable later, Spencer said only, "I'll pass." But he looked toward Lokusay and let his pride and agreement show on his face. He wasn't here as an analyst or investigator, he was here as nen family.

"My most personal grievance would be for my nephew, as I already explained," was all Dr. Akari Toyama added.

"I have so many grievances." Dr. Shinobu Toyama slapped the table and kept his hand there, tapping out each point. "There's our nephew, of course. Beyond that, I should be able to hire assistants of my own. Exobiology should be at least as large as botany. If anything, an exobiologist like myself should oversee the botanists, biologists and some projects in oceanography and other areas. All this talk of bond mates and gifts—Those who dismiss it as fantasy are blind, but Parrish and McKay are at least complicit in the cover up." Now it was Shinobu's turn to glare at Sheppard. "Our leadership must open their eyes to those we truly cannot trust. The Satedan, Ronon, hid information about gifts and bond mates for years. It turns out the Athosians and other aliens all knew something. Can we trust anything they tell us now? That's where you should look for collaborators and informants. They put us all at risk and play us for fools."

Spencer wondered how the scientist would feel if he knew how many around the table were hiding gifts of their own. He also seemed to forget that Teyla had been open about her gift for sensing Wraith from the beginning, and she'd used that gift to help Atlantis on more than one occasion. But Toyama had not been with the expedition then, and he clearly had not made much effort to acculturate to the Earth community on Atlantis, let alone the broader multiculturalism of Pegasus.

Lorne was sitting up straight and scanning the room, before he even began to speak. "As XO, I know there are forms and a process to request background checks for possible Earth hiring or for opening up new workspaces, such as greenhouses on the city. Perhaps McKay can speak to the science specific part of the process, but I for one am offended at the suggestion that hate speech and vandalism were to only way to open this discussion. I have seen no forms submitted by either of the Drs. Toyama or Dr. Gardini through standard channels."

The proud look Parrish gave Lorne felt very similar to the one Spencer had given Lokusay after nen spoke. Parrish said only, "I would have been happy for anyone in botany or exobiology to propose and lead their own repairs and experiments in that greenhouse. I've had my eye on it for years and had recently submitted a request to hire someone for the current project. Doestossay showed up wanting to learn. It turned out he already knew a great deal about local agriculture, insights the Ancient database is sorely lacking as well as hands on practical skills most scientists on Atlantis don't have. So yes, I hired him to start this greenhouse project, but that shouldn't affect the new hire request I sent to Earth. If Toyama's nephew or Gardini's former grad student are qualified, they're welcome to apply through normal channels. Being perfectly honest though, I don't feel comfortable working with anyone who would attack a greenhouse, promote hatred against local people or other groups, or set up to poison someone or frame someone for poisoning. I want to keep my people safe, that includes Doestossay and everyone else on Atlantis." He turned to face Shinobu Toyama directly and spoke with more authority than Spencer had ever heard the quiet scientist muster before. "I am in charge of botany on Atlantis. Because I earned that position through my work and experience here. I want assurances and a plan to keep anything like this from happening again."

Doestossay looked overwhelmed, but he sat forward with his hands open on the table. "I was just trying to help. I didn't ask for a specific job or title. I had no idea people would hate me for trying to contribute to my community. I guess, I'd like to understand. Also to protect people and stop hate, as Dr. Parrish said."

Spencer's eyes grew damp. He saw a few others in the room blinking. No one could argue against his son's words or his obvious sincerity.

The rest of the table passed until they reached McKay, seated on Teyla's far side. The Head of Science was wearing a "nen" pin under the Canadian flag on his uniform. No one had commented or even blinked, and Spencer wondered if the matter at hand simply overshadowed it or if reactions would come later.

"I want these idiots out of my city." McKay flung nen arms wide, one almost hitting Teyla, who dodged. "Seriously, anyone who supports the stuff written on that greenhouse doesn't belong here. The Wraith may be gone, but it's only a matter of time until something threatens us all again. If anything, we need to tighten our new hire screening to avoid this." Nen waved dismissively at the scientists in question. "Stupidity and hate are dangerous, and I never want to lay eyes on these three hateful—"

Teyla pressed McKay's hand to the table and stared nen down as only she could. It was obvious to all that she was heading off a longer rant and what promised to be an impressive string of insults, but most didn't see how her touch also provided needed grounding to the upset Sentinel. "Thank you all. We will now take a quiet moment to reflect before we begin discussing plans for improvement and restitution."

#

"I'm exhausted," Spencer admitted. It was late afternoon, and the first day of Teyla's arbitration had ended inconclusively. She had suggested everyone meditate before they resumed discussions in the morning.

Ronon grunted.

Sheppard, who along with Private Prasetyo and their entire family was escorting Doestossay back to his cell, said, "You think her strategy is to exhaust all resistance?"

"Or promote careless speech or actions," Sawasay suggested. Sawasay had not yet spoken in the group's deliberations and had passed each time they specifically took turns around the triangle.

Spencer nodded and smiled at nen observation. "On Earth, there is a similar practice called restorative justice that seeks to repair the harm resulting from a crime by having victims, offenders and community members sit down together. There are historical precedents among many indigenous groups on Earth, such as the process of Utu among the Maori. More recently, pacifist groups such as Mennonites have promoted the practice in both educational and law enforcement settings."

"McKay's right when he, I mean nen, says nen can fire them," Sheppard said. "Even if we can't prove all three were involved with the leaves, there's evidence linking all three to the drones."

Spencer shook his head sadly. "Not to mention the accusations and demands they've made. Other than Dr. Akari Toyama, they've shown no remorse or willingness to make restitutions or even apologize."

Ronon pressed their shoulders together, and Spencer felt an invigorating affection across their bond. On Ronon's other side, he'd looped an arm across Doestossay's shoulders. Lokusay was holding their son's bound hands. Spencer wasn't sure the pretense of holding Doestossay prisoner was still necessary, but they'd all agreed to continue through the next day.

"What story are you telling tonight?" Lokusay asked, looking around the others to Spencer.

"I haven't decided. Oh, and I need to check in with Dado, but this is officially my guard duty shift."

They'd reached the room with Doestossay's cell. Ronon pulled their son into a long hug, and after that each member of the family needed a turn. Sheppard leaned against the doorframe and said, "Don't think we needed to assign your family to guard duty. They're always here anyway."

"I'll stay until dinner," Ronon said.

"Which I guess means we're fetching it," Sawasay said to Lokusay as they finally let Doestossay go.

When the cell was officially secured, Sheppard said, "I'll tag along for your talk with Dado and the others. Not like they'll even answer my questions."

#

Sheppard hung back with the guards on duty when they reached the room with three cells.

Spencer walked up to Dado's cell, still making a point of communicating primarily with the silent, most junior of the three new Satedans. "Did you like the books? I see they're all still in good shape." He let his eyes openly survey the neat stacks of books, all sorted differently than when Spencer had dropped them off the day before. He'd delivered more than a dozen, not knowing the boy's tastes or how fast he read. "I know you looked shocked when I asked you to take care of them." Reaching into his bag, Spencer pulled out a notebook in which he was keeping the two folded pages collected as evidence. Then he waited for Dado to meet his gaze. "You wouldn't know anything about these, would you?"

He unfolded the pages and held them where Dado could see. While the kid had a reasonable poker face, widening pupils and certain muscles around the eyes used in facial coding gave away his surprise, even without Spencer's empathy to confirm it. His gift did assure him neither of the adult prisoners were surprised, even though the more injured one was awake and sitting up in bed this time.

"Do you have any idea why someone tore these pages out of a book and shoved them inside shoulder armor?" He switched to Satedan, "I've been told, 'To destroy a book is worse than to gouge out an eye.'" It was one of Ronon's sayings, and Spencer had checked that it was authentically Satedan.

After a pause, Spencer continued in English, "Nice paper and printing, they must have been torn from a well-made book. Do you know who wrote it? Were you given a chance to read it?"

Keeping his silence, Dado came close enough to the bars to read the pages that Spencer was still holding up. The squint of his eyes showed he hadn't read them before. Anger grew and poured off of the boy. Spencer wasn't sure if Dado was upset about the damaged book or his parents not telling him more. Either way, he remained silent, at least for the time being. His body slumped with something approaching defeat.

"Don't worry," Jabara taunted from her cell, "There are many copies. Others will come to claim Atlantis and set us free."

"I hope not," Spencer said. "This information became obsolete the moment we found it. I’m afraid the city shield won't be deactivated if anyone tries this method again."

"You lie," Jabara growled.

"Why should I?"

Jabara stalked to the far side of her cell, turning her back to Spencer, which he recognized for the insult it was.

"Anyway," Spencer continued to Dado, "I'd love to discuss books whenever you feel like talking. For now, I came to tell you about a storytelling event scheduled for tonight. The Athosians are hosting it down here by the cells so that another person in custody may participate. You should be able to hear all the stories. If you'd like a turn to read or recite a story of your choice, you would be welcome to participate. We value free speech and won't sensor you. Although we do have some laws against hate speech or incitement to violence, so I guess charges could be added for your trial if you tried anything like that. Any questions?"

"We will be given a trial?" The woman who had never spoken before, Nadi, asked with sincere curiosity.

Jobara burned with disgust but did not turn or speak.

"Yes, we will do our best to treat you fairly. You should be pleased to hear that no one actually died from your attack. If nothing else, that means you might not be facing a life sentence." Spencer stayed where he was but turned to face Nadi. "Because you attempted a military attack on our city, it will be a military trial. I would have liked to work with you as a mediator, but this is outside my jurisdiction. I also might have been disqualified due to my bond mate being the original Satedan immigrant to Atlantis. You'd have to address any questions about your trial to Colonel Sheppard." Spencer moved his head to point out Sheppard in the Satedan way.

Jobara shifted so her back was to both Sheppard and Spencer. Neither Nadi nor Dado said anything, so Spencer left to take his place on guard duty and figure out what story to share that night.

#

Sheppard stopped Spencer in a quiet section of hallway before he reached Doestossay's cell.

"If I wore a pin saying 'he'"—Sheppard gestured to the one on Spencer's shirt—"Would that show support for McKay or look like I was defensive about my pronouns or something?"

"What do you want it to show?" Spencer asked.

"You know I want to support him—nen. I'm trying. I swear." Sheppard gave him the stink eye like some teenage pop idol in a magazine, and not for the first time, Spencer wondered where the military commander had learned his various mannerisms and façades. But without even using his gifts, Spencer could plainly read the other's good intentions.

"Then it will mean that. You can tell nen or anyone else who isn't sure." Spencer almost laughed at how relieved the Colonel looked. "You'll have to ask Lokusay for the pin though."

#

Those attending the storytelling were asked to sit along the far wall of the hallway, facing the occupied rooms in the cell block. The halls were wide, at least a couple meters across, and equipped with audio and video monitors. McKay had arranged for the video feeds to display on both sides of the walls that separated the cells from the hall. While people were not seated in a traditional storytelling circle, this assured that everyone participating would be able to see everyone else.

Audio from where someone was speaking could also be boosted to other locations if needed. And it looked like that might be necessary.

"How many people were you expecting?" Lokusay asked. Nen sat between Spencer and Ronon in the portion of hallway just outside Doestossay's door. Sawasay was on guard duty with Sergeant Stackhouse this time.

"Fewer than this," Spencer answered.

"How many do you think are here?"

Spencer scanned the displayed images, grouping people into sets of five then twenty-five to count them faster. "Three hundred and six so far." About half of the early arrivals had been Athosian. After that it had been about half military and half assorted civilians. Now that they were a few minutes past the announced starting time, most of the new arrivals were scientists. Spencer was amused by how many of them studied the projected images just as he was, eyes darting about with some sort of counting algorithm as well. "Fifty-two are wearing your pins."

Lokusay smiled, nen eyes darting across the projected images, taking pride in nen work. Aside from their own family, McKay, and many Pegasus natives, there were fourteen members of the Earth military wearing Lokusay's pins. Sheppard had been given not only a "he" pin but one with the symbol for Atlantis (that secretly still reminded Spencer of the angstrom symbol, although he wouldn't risk insulting Sheppard's bond mate by saying so) to wear beneath his American flag. No one else had an Atlantis symbol, and no other military wore a "nen" pin like Sawasay, but there were an almost equal number of "he" and "she" pins scattered among military of all ranks, presumably biased by who knew Sawasay best. Private Prasetyo wore a "he" pin, even though he was out of uniform and looked to have come straight from the gym.

Chris Wong, the Canadian biologist who'd been on a panel about gender with both Sawasay and Lokusay, had pins saying both "nen" and "ve." Another scientist, whose specialty Spencer didn't know, sported both "nen" and "they." Beckett and Juarez both had "he" pins. Kusanagi had a "she" pin.

Then Namar stood up in the center of the hall and spoke out loud and clear. His voice needed no amplification as everyone quickly grew quiet to listen. "Welcome and greetings, all. This is a wonderful turn out, and I am sure we will enjoy a long evening of many stories. When you would like a turn, please hold your arm forward between stories. We will do our best to share the talking stick well. Who would like to begin?" The talking stick was a plastic figurine of an anthropomorphized tree, a very strange blending of Earth and Athosian traditions. Spencer had first taken the figure to represent a humorous parody of an Ent from _The Lord of the Rings_ but was later told it was Groot, a comic book character.

An Athosian elder began with a tale that started, "In the seasons of my youth…" and went on to tell of a complex polyamorous union across planets, gifts, and belief systems.

Lokusay went second, and Spencer realized the Athosians were hosting this storytelling partly at her request and partly for Doestossay.

"Once there was a shapeshifter named Pepitet. Nen had always stood out as different from others, for speaking too loudly, climbing too high, eating things that weren't food, or laughing at stories that weren't funny. One day in a dance circle, someone scolded, 'You can't dance if you can't control your big, clumsy feet.' Without a conscious thought, Pepitet's feet shrank and grew sensitive whiskers all around to warn of collisions. For a few minutes Pepitet danced happily among nen people. Then the screaming started." Lokusay paused for dramatic effect, having come from a storytelling people.

"An elder in the community managed to settle the screamers eventually and took Pepitet aside to say, 'You may do as you will, but you don't have to look different.' After that, Pepitet made a point of looking like those around nen, only experimenting with different shapes and sizes of feet and fingers where no one could see. When nen found a configuration that worked better, nen would make public changes gradually. As a still growing child, such changes were easy to hide. The day when Pepitet's feet had changed mid-dance became a story even those who'd been present hardly believed."

Even caught up in the story, Spencer couldn't help but wonder if his pinta was describing a real gift. It sounded less plausible than those he knew so far, unless nen was talking about replicators. Spencer hoped no one in the audience would worry, or worse, about that. He didn't know why Lokusay had chosen this particular story, but he tried to be open to what nen was sharing and fully enjoy the moment.

"When Pepitet entered puberty, nen experienced an awkward moment while wrestling with a friend. Nen popped an erection so large, it would be clearly seen and felt through thin summer clothing. In a panic, nen tried to think of freezing cold water or cleaning up after diarrhea, but nothing was awful enough to dissuade Pepitet's adolescent body. So under nen clothes, Pepitet shaped his penis away, into a tiny lump like some others had. It still sent sensations flooding nen body as the wrestling continued, but at least nobody could see. Pepitet decided the new arrangement was better after that, and only shaped a penis for peeing, bathing, or when others could see."

Spencer's empathy was open enough to know that some in the audience were turned on by Lokusay's blunt descriptions. Far more were embarrassed, but no one said anything offensive, at least not loud enough for Spencer to hear. If Ronon heard anything, he kept his reactions hidden. They'd both accepted that their pinta were old enough to make their own decisions about what was culturally appropriate for them to share, and that included matters involving sex or sex organs. Perhaps it was easier in the moment, because the emotions he sensed from Lokusay had nothing to do with arousal or trying to say something sexy. Nen was focused, enthusiastic, and more than a little nervous about communicating whatever nen hoped to get across.

"When the time came for Pepitet to go alone into the woods before seeking an apprenticeship, nen thought there would be no surprises. Pepitet had known nen gift for years and had spent a great deal of time in solitude. Walking alone in starlight, nen did not hesitate to grow bigger eyes to take in more light. Pepitet was used to making tougher feet with warning whiskers by now and shifting more fat under nen skin to keep warm. Thus it was that Pepitet first appeared to Torasmu.

"Torasmu took one look and said, 'Please say you are a shapeshifter like me.' Torasmu spoke while hanging from a prehensile tale, sporting four legs with sharp claws and two arms with soft hands clasping tasty leaves that could only be chewed with two lines of blunt teeth and digested by a secondary stomach. Rather than answer, Pepitet morphed before nen, adding legs and a prehensile tail, gradually shaping one detail after another to look exactly like Torasmu.

"'Now I'm like you,' Pepitet said.

"'I doubt that. You'll need an extra stomach to enjoy these leaves.' Torasmu offered a handful of leaves, and Pepitet took a nibble.

"Then a look of surprise and pride mixed with a moment of nausea passed over Pepitet's face. 'I can do that.'

"'We're so lucky,' Torasmu said. 'We can live anywhere and never be hungry, cold, or trapped.' Torasmu swung up a branch, across, and down to demonstrate. 'If we stick together, we need never be alone, and we'll never be bored by our own or each other's bodies.'

"Pepitet thought of the elder who'd counseled against looking different and the others who'd screamed over such a small change before. Nen thought of apprenticing in one standard form despite knowing there were better options for any given job or for enjoying life in general. Nen reformed the soft hand that wasn't holding leaves into something with longer fingers that included short whiskers on top and smooth, sensitive skin underneath. Torasmu created a tentacle that split into mini-tentacles at the end, all twitching in excitement. They reached out together and touched for the first time before swinging away to many fine adventures as their true selves."

There was only a brief pause for Spencer to wonder if Lokusay had shifted the story in any way to fit nen audience or storytelling traditions, or if such a simple narrative with a happy ending was basically universal. He felt Lokusay's pride and relief at being done, and it blended with the strange pride he felt whenever his pinta were pleased with themselves.

It was a surprise to Spencer when Dr. Oni spoke next, telling a story about an ape who took care of a woman's baby while she worked farming yams. It was a captivating tale of a time when humans and other primates had worked together with understanding. Then it shifted gears as a jealous former suitor tricked the father into killing his wife, his child, and the ape. When the father went to seek justice, war broke out between his people and the suitor's people until over fifty from both sides were dead. From that time on, the other primates were frightened of all humans, even small children.

If Spencer hadn't known Oni was from Earth and Lokusay from a different planet, he wasn't sure he could have guessed from their stories.

Dr. McKay spoke next, surprising Spencer by reading a fairytale about a changeling.

A woman Spencer had only met once, in a parent meeting at the Atlantis Children's Center, told a story from her planet of birth that involved spirit animals being frustrated by the stubbornness of humans who denied their gifts and refused to see their own spirit animals. The story did not mention Spirit Leaders or anyone with a gift for seeing many spirit animals. Spencer was glad for that. He didn't want to be pressured to police the spirit plane or report on other people's spirit animals.

There was a slightly longer break between stories as three Athosians distributed snacks. One actually had a tea cart, brought down from the dining hall and stocked with Athosian tea. Another brought around grapes. And the baker Spencer had long ago traded a scarf in exchange for unknown seasonal baked goods, brought around twisty rolls similar to soft pretzels but slightly spicy.

At first, Spencer was worried that the Athosians couldn't have prepared enough for the unexpectedly large crowd. What he saw in the projected images was much worse. While most people accepted the grapes, which were a common snack food in the mess hall, many declined the rolls and tea. Some just held up a hand or shook their heads, which would have been rude enough in Spencer's mind. But others physically recoiled from the Athosian baker. Some wrinkled their noses and others stared wide eyed. Spencer opened his empathy and was shocked at how much fear and suspicion he felt.

Then Ronon let out a growl and sprung to his feet. "Do you realize half your mess hall staff are Pegasus natives?"

Spencer stood up, motioning for Lokusay to stay put. "What's happening, Ronon?"

Pointing at a geologist Spencer barely knew, Ronon announced loud and clear, "He's spreading rumors that the Athosians poisoned the food." Then he pointed further down the line at a Marine. "She's saying her team came tonight to keep an eye on the natives and sympathizers."

Someone farther down the wall called out, "Ask him how he overheard them. He just proved the so called 'gifts' are real, and he's using them to spy on us."

Ronon barred his teeth in disgust. "I'm a Tracker. Never hid that I can hear and smell better than most. How do you think I survived seven years as a Runner? Gift or talent, does it matter?"

"There are documented cases of super-tasters and super-smellers on Earth." Spencer hoped his nerdy logic would appeal to the scientists at least. "We all know people who need glasses or hearing aids to see and hear as much as we can. We even have stories of soul mates on Earth. Why would anyone who came to Atlantis jump to such hostile conclusions? If someone's warning you against certain food or people, maybe you should question their motives first. And then your own."

Some people clapped. Others argued. After a few minutes, Namar quieted them again with the power of his voice and presence. "Please, this is meant to be a sharing, a storytelling. You may eat or not. Judge harshly or open your minds and hearts. I ask only that if you stay, you show respect by keeping quiet during the stories."

The young man had a gift, and for a moment Spencer wondered how anyone could determine if that was an actual "gift" or not. Then someone down the line threw a punch. Someone punched Spencer's favorite baker for giving away free bread.

Ronon placed an arm in front of Spencer saying, "Think first." Then Ronon pulled his blaster and said, "Stop or be stunned."

The Marine who'd thrown the punch must have known Ronon meant it. He stepped back toward the wall.

"Apologize or leave," Ronon said.

The hitter shook his head and left. A couple of other Marines who'd been sitting nearby followed him. A quick-thinking medic provided the baker with a cold pack from supplies kept down the hall and walked with him back to where he'd been sitting.

"Anyone else need to go?" Ronon asked loudly.

When no one moved or spoke, Ronon grunted and sat down, pulling Spencer with him. Spencer's mind was reeling with what had just happened. No matter how jaded he thought he was or what he'd learned in his previous career, he hadn't expected such open discord and xenophobia on Atlantis. He certainly hadn't expected anyone to throw a punch—to hit the baker of all people.

A few in the crowd put out their arms, requesting to tell a story, and Namar handed one of them the talking stick.

Spencer found himself now seated between Ronon and Lokusay who both exuded comfort toward him. It beat back the old and new fear and anxiety coming from the rest of the audience, and reminded Spencer to shield his empathy a bit more. When he looked up, his gaze met Doestossay's in his cell. The young man shook his head in understanding. Sawasay glanced Spencer's way and rolled nen eyes.

#

It took Spencer a while to settle. His mind was whirring with denial, realism, and wondering if the sound and video monitors along the hall would let them analyze later where the rumors had originated. While part of Spencer heard and remembered the next several stories that were told, he didn't fully focus until he heard the name Yo-Yo Ma and wondered if he'd heard correctly. Sure enough, an Earth anthropologist had just shared the story of Yo-Yo Ma starting the Silk Road Project to promote cooperation between musicians from different cultural and artistic traditions.

Next Namar brought the talking stick to Sawasay, who was guarding Doestossay's room. "If I cannot pass this to him, will you hold it while he speaks?"

"I will," Sawasay answered solemnly.

Doestossay rose to his feet, standing as he tended to do when he wanted to be taken seriously. Then he began to recite a story in Satedan. The Gate translation would let everyone understand, some might even have read it among the stories they'd released through the Atlantis library. But even with his empathy half shielded, Spencer could feel Doestossay's pride in representing his adopted home. Ronon's pride echoed back twice as loud.

Speakers down the hall amplified Doestossay's voice, since the acoustics from his cell did not reach the far ends of the hall as well. In his image on the wall, he stood all alone, behind bars and a force field, but his eyes were open wide and his chin held high.

"'Have you heard Nayim returned?' the young tanner asked all those around the festival fire." Spencer thought of his talk with Ronon, of fires as symbolic of safety to Satedans, as their son spoke, "Heads nodded as the tanner went on, 'I knew it would happen. We hid together from a culling as children in those caves right above the university. We were so alike. I knew Nayim could never stay far from this place and our people.'"

Doestossay stepped slightly to one side and lowered his voice. "'Indeed,' the baker said. 'As a child Nayim was always first at my door to greet a new batch of cakes. Spicy or sweet. Fighting through rain or sleet. Nayim and I shared our love of Satedan baking, both so alike. I knew Nayim would return to us one day."

The story continued with Doestossay shifting only slightly side to side, changing voices just the slightest bit to represent each character gathered around the festival fire. One by one, each perspective showed a different aspect of Nayim. From tastes in food to strategies in a fight, from first kiss to discovering themselves at the same times to be 'le'—the Satedan third gender—each felt they were just like Nayim in some way. Each declared their certainty that Nayim would return.

"Finally, a stranger at the fire said, 'I know it was hard for Nayim to be away for so long. After coming into le gifts as a Tracker an irresistible force drew Nayim from planet to planet, hunt to hunt, season to season. I cannot say I was like Nayim in any of that. My people stayed put, and raised me that way. I cared for my people, and did what I could, but something stirred inside me, something I couldn't explain or answer. Until one day a Tracker stepped through our Gate and called me Guide. Nayim is my soul mate, and I will always be true to le, who has returned so we may always be here to serve you.'"

With a small smile, Doestossay sat back on his cot. Namar collected the stick to pass to another storyteller, an Athosian. In the interim another round of snacks were distributed. This time Spencer watched as every person present accepted either tea or bread from their Athosian hosts, even the geologist who had spread rumors before. No one made faces or accusations. The baker had only a small red mark to show from the earlier attack.

Spencer said, "Thank you. Are you alright?" when the baker reached him.

"Even better. This is the most successful storytelling we have ever had on Atlantis." Then the old man ducked his head mischievously. "I knew it would be. That's why I brought so many snacks."

The night ran late, as more and more people were drawn into the spirit of storytelling. Spencer was pleased to see Private Cole drinking Athosian tea and listening attentively. Private Prasetyo even told a story. It wasn't Indonesian—something about mutants that probably came from a comic book Spencer would recognize if he knew more American pop culture.

Dr. Parrish read _The Lorax_ by Dr. Seuss, showing pictures from a hard cover copy. Spencer had no idea how the actual book had come to be on Atlantis, but he'd known the story before he'd learned the name of Parrish's spirit animal. After Parrish first reacted to seeing all the other spirit animals at their housewarming party, they'd met with him several times to explain about Spirit Leaders, bond mates, and what they thought they understood about gifts. It hadn't been until a visit to the spirit plane when they'd introduced Parrish to Dostovo, Lokusay's previous Spirit Leader and listener, that they'd realized Parrish was a Spirit Leader for plants. It wasn't yet clear if it was only certain plants or if the plants functioned as a Sentinel or a bond mate. Parrish was still developing his gifts and his affinity for the spirit plane and his spirit animal, the bat he'd named Lorax. What they had learned was that Lorax could guide Parrish to address plant problems. Also, the plants on the spirit plane turned out to be more than just imagined scenery, they were spirit plants in the same way Lorax was a spirit animal. Spencer had been nervous about walking across grass in the spirit plane until Parrish guided him through a very _Stranger in a Strange Land_ moment to understand the grass there was happy to be walked across.

Spencer only realized he'd drifted into remembering rather than listening to the already familiar story of _The Lorax_ when Lokusay prompted him, "Put out your hand."

When Spencer was passed the talking stick, he pulled out the Facial Action Coding System manual he'd managed to borrow that afternoon. He opened to the second page of the introduction and paraphrased the very short, true story he'd decided to share. "There once was a high school football coach, someone who mentored young people learning an athletic game." He added that for the Pegasus natives who hadn't yet been indoctrinated with Sheppard's football obsession. "The coach's name was Marty. He'd been a prison guard earlier in his life but left that job after he insisted one time too many that some of the prisoners were truly innocent and needed better legal help. Working with young people, he was appreciated for his ability to sense when players were more or less injured than they claimed. Twice he told over-eager players that he thought they were hiding injuries in order to compete. When he required them to see a doctor, the doctors agreed both times. Other teachers, and even the school counselors, started whispering about Marty's keen ability to tell who was lying or to spot kids who were troubled emotionally but managing to hide their problems."

Spencer took a deep breath, trying to speak slower and make his voice more animated. He knew he wasn't a great storyteller, but he'd been learning from better examples all night. "One day Marty was introduced to a scientist named Dr. Ekman. Ekman studied how people expressed emotions without using words. He'd helped show that people from many different places could recognize some basic facial expressions of emotion. Beneath the expressions everyone saw, Ekman also studied microexpressions. These involved facial movements so fast, that most people didn't even notice them. Ekman tested Marty, showing him film after film. It turned out Marty was naturally gifted at reading microexpressions. He'd never known. Others at his school had never suspected. Knowing about the extra gift he used to help young athletes didn't change how Marty did his job. But along with other research, studying Marty helped Dr. Ekman develop what's now called the Facial Action Coding System. Others were then trained to recognize microexpressions, in real time or on film. Because microexpressions seemed to be produced subconsciously, people couldn't control them or hide them when they lied. Ekman's work has since been used by therapists, researchers, law enforcement, and of course, teachers and others who mentor young people."

After Spencer gave back the talking stick, he passed the training materials for the Facial Action Coding System to Lokusay. Then he leaned back against the corridor wall and let himself relax.

"Thank you," Lokusay whispered, leaning into his shoulder on one side as Spencer leaned against Ronon's uninjured shoulder on the other.

A few younger, or sometimes older, people had fallen asleep by the time Namar hesitated in front of the door to the room with three cells. In the image projected from that room, Spencer saw that Dado was holding out his hand.

"Did you wish to share a story?" Namar asked.

"Yes." It was the first word Dado had spoken on Atlantis, but Namar did not know that. He simply gave the talking stick to a willing guard.

Spencer saw Jobara scowling in her cell and opened his empathic shields to better appraise the situation. Her anger was not violent like someone who wished to fight. It was the tense anger of a scholar frustrated by an error. Nadi barely registered as background, mostly tired and a bit curious. Dado shown with something like pride and defiance. It was a mixture Spencer couldn't name but had felt traces of all evening. It was a particular variation on the need to speak and be heard.

"There once was an orphan named Rinor who lost both parents in a culling before he knew his people's ways or language. He came to live on Sateda with parents and grandparents who fed and clothed and cared for him. When it took Rinor longer than usual to speak, they let him use gestures to show what he wanted. They learned to read his body almost to the point of reading his mind. They accepted his differences and tried to help him follow his own path."

Ronon nodded along as if he recognized the story, but Spencer had never heard of seen it before.

"Rinor first spoke while sitting on a grandmother's lap. She had been reading him a children's book for the hundredth time, as grandparents do, and Rinor began to recite the words with her. They recited the story together until the end of the book. After that, Rinor became known as the boy who read before he spoke. It turned out he truly could read books he'd never heard before, at least children's books with words he'd seen in other stories."

Dado was a good storyteller and he became more emotive and active as he spoke. "One of Rinor's older brothers was from a different people with a written language, Atollian. The brother missed his birth home and his birth language, so he taught Rinor to read the two Atollian books he'd brought with him. Then he wrote stories for Rinor in Atollian, stories in which Rinor could turn invisible or in which Rinor arrived on Sateda in a seedpod carried on the wind.

"One day, Rinor picked up his brother's writing pen and wrote a story about his brother learning Atollian from giants who wrote it in letters as large as his head. Thus began a conversation through stories, Rinor's first conversation. His brother did not always understand what Rinor's parts of the stories meant or where the ideas came from, but they were never dull."

The listeners, who had been uncertain or even anxious when Dado wanted to speak, were now sympathetic and focused on the story. "Rinor continued to grow, but slowly. Never very tall. Never very strong. The games other children played held no interest or led to bruises and scrapes. Rinor refused to kill anything when hunting and gathered strange plants and other items when taken to collect edibles or firewood.

"When his family finally visited a city with a library, Rinor found three books in different languages and brought them to the librarian. Once the family explained that Rinor only spoke when reading or writing and was literate in two languages already, the librarian found people in the library who could read each of the three languages to Rinor. The books were meant for adults, but Rinor was not truly a child anymore. By halfway through each of the new books, Rinor could read along with those fluent in the languages."

Spencer wondered if picking up written languages from others might relate to a certain gift or if Dado was possibly describing a form of hyperlexia, which was sometimes called a "superability" on Earth.

"So it was that Rinor came to be an apprentice translator and stayed in the city with the library. In time Rinor achieved great honor as a writer, known for stories of the surreal or unexpected. The characters in the stories were never insiders, never quite fit. But through many stories in many languages, Rinor found a home no one ever imagined."

When Dado finished, Spencer felt pleased in a way similar to his feelings after his pinta told their stories. He'd only known Dado for a couple days. They'd never even conversed. Spencer had spoken and handed off books, but when Dado choose to participate in the storytelling, it felt like a real connection had been established.

By some sort of unspoken agreement, no one else asked to tell a story. The evening had reached a good end, and they were all satisfied to go home and sleep.

#


	4. Chapter 4

_Spencer was surprised to be invited to Marcus' birthday party. He'd never actually been invited to another kids' birthday, although he'd read about birthday parties in several books. By third grade, he'd given up on being included, and was therefore even more surprised._

_Knowing he needed to bring a present and not having much money of his own, Spencer bought the book Truckers by Terry Pratchett. It was new and had a long waitlist at the library, so Spencer figured it was popular. He knew Marcus wouldn't want any of the literature or history Spencer read at home or the advanced science and math texts recommended by their magnet school. While everyone at their school was supposed to be smart, Marcus didn't seem interested in learning more than he had to. Still, Spencer had read through the book before giving it, careful not to open the pages too far or leave any marks. He found it a quick, fun read. It seemed like an ideal present._

_No one else gave Marcus a book. When Marcus thanked Spencer after unwrapping the gift, Spencer knew the boy didn't mean it, even if he wasn't sure whether the thanks were sarcastic. Spencer already knew he had trouble identifying sarcasm and humor sometimes._

_Now all the other boys, except for Spencer and Marcus, were playing foosball. There were only eight handles, four for each team to turn rods controlling 13 mini-soccer players. As the other eight boys clamored for spots, Spencer stood back to analyze the game. Marcus came to stand beside Spencer, or maybe he came for the bowl of potato chips on the table beside Spencer. It was amazing how many potato chips Marcus could eat, one handful after another. His mother kept refilling bowls all around the family room and patio where the party was taking place._

_"Didn't you want to play?" Spencer asked._

_Around a mouthful of chips Marcus said, "Sure, but I'm not a baby anymore. Gotta be a good host. I bet I'm the first person to ever invite you to a party."_

_Spencer nodded._

_Marcus laughed. "I told my mom that. She said it didn't matter, that it wouldn't be right for me to invite all the other boys in the class and not you. Hope you're enjoying it. You don't have to invite me to yours."_

_Spencer felt a little sad, kind of hollow inside, but he hadn't expected Marcus to become his friend. In most ways, it was better to have the situation spelled out so clearly and a relief not to worry about returning the invitation. Spencer had never had a party where he could invite friends over. When his mom was doing well around his birthday, or once when she was very confused about the date and believed it was his birthday, she'd make a special dinner and dessert. She always gave him books or clothes for presents, and that was it._

_"You talk more at school," Marcus said between crunching bites._

_"Did you know that while the New York chef George Crum is often credited with inventing the potato chip in the 1850s, there are recipes in cookbooks from decades earlier and even the name 'potato chip' was already in popular use by the 1840s? George Crum popularized potato chips by placing a basket on each table at his restaurant, but he couldn't have patented them anyway because his father was African-American and his mother was from the Huron tribe. He was raised in the Adirondack Mountain, an historically—"_

_"Stop. Seriously, just eat some potato chips." Marcus held out the bowl._

_Spencer took one. It was extremely salty, but after finishing it, he took another._

#

Spencer was pulled from his dream, an eidetic reliving of his childhood as so many of his dreams were lately, by a flap of wings and a tug at the collar of his shirt.

He opened his eyes to the grass clearing in the spirit plane where the cluster tended to meet. A light flash of fur swarmed up his body to wrap ferret soft around Spencer's neck.

It was night, although brightly lit by a full moon and hundreds of stars. Spencer wondered if the spirit plane actually had day and night cycles of its own or if they were created by the expectations of those visiting. Either way, the open space felt calmer in the cool, dim light. The tall grasses rustled in a chill breeze, but heat still rose from the dirt at his feet. The smell of denser forest nearby mixed with the damp of early dew.

There were no people, only lotuks. The one that had pulled Spencer onto this plane, took off and spiraled above. A faint glow marked that lotuk and others in the air as spirit animals.

Two on the ground in front of Spencer did not glow. They were grooming each other. One poked at the scales on the other's long neck. While the lotuks' wings were smooth like bats, their heads, necks, and spines were covered with fine dark scales. Their beaks contained sharp teeth, but they only used the tips of their beaks and not the teeth as they groomed each other. The clawed hands on their wings helped to hold them in position, but were not being used for grooming or comfort.

"Spencer, you made it." The voice was Doestossay's and came from the lotuk currently being groomed.

"Between our spirit guides and his own, I doubt there was much of a choice." Lokusay's voice coming from the other lotuk was not a surprise at that point. "We're going to work on flying in lotuk form and didn't think you'd want to miss it."

Spencer smiled broadly at the easy invitation and inclusion, given his most recent dream. "Thanks, I definitely wanted to try flying, but I didn't even know you could call me to the spirit plane."

"We didn't either, but the spirit guides did. We offered to take Rikki up with us, but nen clearly wanted you here." Lokusay ceased grooming and shook out nen wings. "Besides, we'd talked about flying here together, and after last night's stories, I just couldn't wait anymore."

Spencer reconsidered Lokusay's story about shapeshifters. While those with spirit gifts commonly adopted the forms of their spirit animals while visiting the spirit plane, only a few with gifts like Spirit Leaders could supposedly change to any spirit form with practice.

Lokusay interrupted his thoughts, "I feel obliged to point out that while getting hurt on the spirit plane doesn't seem to transfer to injury on our physical bodies, we don't know what happens if someone dies here."

"Noted," Spencer wanted to be a responsible parent and role model, but he also wanted to fly and somehow trusted they were safe in this place. "I take it Sawasay can't join us even though nen knows how to fly in that form?"

"Despite being very good at splitting nen attention between two places, Sawasay said that wouldn't be appropriate while she's on guard duty," Lokusay answered and flapped nen wings.

Without a pause Doestossay added, "And we didn't want to wait. Shall we try it?"

Spencer thought about becoming a lotuk but didn't feel right imitating other people's spirit animals. Instead, he became the dragon he'd created once before on the spirit plane. Rikki scampered across his suddenly wider shoulders to settle beside a ridge of dark spikes that stood up from Spencer's neck.

"Wow, that's big. I thought you never dreamed yourself bigger?" Lokusay asked.

Remembering their conversation about gender presentation and all the forms Spencer had and hadn't taken in dreams he said, "As a human I was generally close to my real size and build or to something I remembered from when I was younger. Sometimes when I was a shadow or insubstantial in my dreams, I could grow to building size. When I imagine a dragon, this is a small dragon by my reckoning."

From the level of his gaze, Spencer estimated he stood at least fifteen feet high. He stretched his wings and their combined span was at least twice that. They didn't have hands at the bends the way the lotuks did. Instead he had arm-like limbs that came out in front of his wings, also covered in dark, iridescent scales. His legs were much larger and shaped to allow him to squat back on his haunches, the position he'd taken naturally during his transformation.

"So you've never seen these dragon creatures where you come from?" Doestossay flapped his wings and gained a moment of lift as he asked.

"They only exist in stories, so far as I know."

"Wow, you could imagine yourself any form you wanted, like in my story." Lokusay paused in her experiments with leaps and wing positions. "I guess that's part of your gift. I'm pretty sure we can only take these forms because our spirit guides are part of our beings."

"But you can change your appearance in human form on the spirit plane," Spencer said.

"Can we?" Doestossay said. "I hadn't noticed."

Lokusay shared a look with Spencer. Clearly nen had realized how Doestossay was slightly larger and more muscular, perhaps slightly older, on the spirit plane when they first met. Now he seemed to have grown into that concept of himself in real life. Perhaps that meant it was a good time to experiment with being something else, something that could fly.

"Any advice?" Spencer asked.

"Flap, don't fall," Doestossay said.

"Don't get distracted," Lokusay offered. Then with a running start, nen leapt up and flapped nen wings. A couple more flaps and nen rose to where the spirit lotuks circled above.

"Makes it look easy, doesn't nen?" Doestossay had been bouncing and flapping mostly in place. Now he tried to imitate what Lokusay had done with a running start. He flew maybe thirty yards before touching down again.

"Maybe believing it will work is the real trick. Trust that your lotuk form knows how to fly." Spencer wasn't sure he believed his own words, but on the next try Doestossay sailed up into the air.

"Wee-aaaaa-wee!" Doestossay called out.

Spencer smiled, and it felt strained at the corners of his long dragon muzzle. It occurred to him that as a fictional form, there was no guarantee that dragons could fly. But he'd always believed they could, from the first time his mom read him Christopher Marlowe, where Faustus' chariot was drawn by dragons.

Not sure how to run in his current form, Spencer settled for taking successively longer and faster steps until it felt natural to spread his wings and flap.

As in every flying dream he'd ever had, it came naturally after that. He didn't need to flap often or fight to stay airborne. Without a thought to flying higher, Spencer moved as naturally as walking to where he wanted to be. Delight pulsed warm and fast from Rikki, secure at his neck. But the air passing over his scales was different. It funneled through each groove more like water across muscles than like air or water through hair. The scent of the forest below faded, but the smell and feel of damp intensified. He opened his jaw, doing little more than baring his teeth. The feel and tasted of humid air was cleansing, like nothing he'd tried before. Spencer soared higher and farther, losing himself in the feel, smell and taste of flight.

It was only when Rikki-Tikki-Tavi chittered and wriggled against his neck spikes that Spencer remembered to listen and look around. Rikki's chuckling sounds and the air whooshing by were all that Spencer heard. Looking down, the forest was reduced to indistinct shadows. The lotuks were invisible in the darkness below. Spencer had no idea how high or how far he'd come. For a moment, he worried he'd lost them.

Then he circled and glided lower. The slight family bond he could sense whenever he let himself grew stronger on the spirit plane as he focused. It pulled him like a magnet, guiding him back to where the lotuks, human or spirit in reality, circled and rode lower air currents. He spiraled above, watching for a few moments, before drifting down to fly in larger circles toward the outside of the group.

"That looked like quite a first flight," Lokusay said.

"It was." Spencer's uncertainty disappeared. Pure joy filled him. Maybe his mind was more simple, closer to wild in this form. It felt good to circle and fly. Sometimes he pushed higher, but now it felt right to circle with the others, sharing the air, separate but together.

Then Doestossay cried out, fell, and disappeared.

"Sawasay's been shot," Lokusay said. She flew to the ground and disappeared.

Spencer's landing was rough, distracted. But his need to be back in his own body took care of itself.

#

It was a shock to be human again. He lay beside Ronon, who slept on his stomach.

Spencer tried to slow his breathing, to swallow the lump in his throat. For a long moment he couldn't move, couldn't speak. He'd brought Doestossay and his bond mates to Atlantis to help them, to make things better. Now Sawasay was shot, maybe dead or dying and he had no idea what had happened to Doestossay.

Some part of his brain kicked in and demanded he act like an agent even if he was failing as a father. "Ronon, wake up. I think Sawasay's been shot. And I don't know what happened to Doestossay in real life."

The warrior was on his feet in a moment, arming and dressing himself simultaneously.

"How?"

"I don't know. I was practicing flying on the spirit plane when Doestossay disappeared with a shout and Lokusay barely said what had happened before nen went, too." Spencer had managed to pull on his clothes from the day before. He unlocked his gun from the box by their bed and picked up his radio. His brain was coming up to speed, considering calling Lorne, who was in charge of Doestossay's guards but probably already on the way, or Sheppard. As military commander and Atlantis' bond mate, Sheppard probably knew what was happening. Spencer tried to sort out protocols and whether he would be calling as a parent or Spirit Leader as he followed Ronon to the front room where they kept their shoes.

Lokusay was already there, quickly tying up nen hair.

A knock on the door had them all nervous. Then it opened to reveal Sheppard. Spencer wondered if he could bypass the lock as the official military commander or if Atlantis simply took care of it for her bond mate.

"We need to move you someplace safe," Sheppard said. His eyes passed over each of them, noting their state of dress and that they were clearly about to head out.

"We need to see Sawasay and Doestossay," Ronon said.

"They're fine. Doestossay wasn't hit. Sawasay's in the infirmary. Stable. The fact they targeted nen is why we want to hide all of you."

"Who's guarding Doestossay?" Spencer asked.

"Lorne and Teyla are both there and sent me to hide you. They'll take care of him. He wasn't hurt."

Both Spencer and Ronon looked to Lokusay, who nodded.

"Do any of you want to tell me how you knew already?" Sheppard asked.

"All that spirit plane stuff you say you don't want to know," Spencer said. He wouldn't have given away anything about the cluster's gifts, even to Sheppard, but he preferred not to lie. If Sheppard thought it involved spirit animals or Spencer's gifts, that was close enough. The military man had made his discomfort with such discussions clear.

"We're going to Sawasay." Ronon started out the door.

Sheppard spoke into his radio.

Once they were in the transporter, it didn't let them out again. Usually trips within Atlantis were faster than any elevator on Earth. Now the five of them stood trapped in a small closed room.

"Don't," was all Ronon said to Sheppard.

Spencer felt Ronon's anger as his own panic started building again. He wanted to reach out to Lokusay at least, to offer nen some comfort, but nen stood so rigid that Spencer feared one wrong move might break nen.

"Just wait until I know where we're going." A voice came over Sheppard's radio, and while Spencer couldn't make out the words, it was clear Ronon could. The slight turn of his head provided a tell the Tracker might not be aware of. Spencer would mention it sometime when there was less happening.

Sheppard and Ronon both relaxed at the same time.

"Sawasay's going to be fine. They operated in one of the medical isolation rooms for security reasons," Sheppard said. "Teyla says we can all meet in the observation room above it."

As they came out of the transporter next to the infirmary, Spencer saw guards in the side hall at doors to both the isolation room and the observation area they'd used after capturing Future Light, the Wraith hybrid who'd sent an army to Shan Mal. To Spencer it seemed like years rather than months since his first investigation for Atlantis, since his first trip to the planet that later brought Lokusay and nen bond mates into their family.

Sheppard motioned to the guards before guiding Ronon, Spencer, and Lokusay into the observation room. Beckett was covering a medical tray and disposing of bloody gloves in one corner of the room, They could all see Sawasay in a hospital bed below. Nen side was bandaged, but otherwise nen would have appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Juarez, the medic who mentored Lokusay was there, gently washing nen face and arms. Spencer could only guess at the blood splatter Juarez must have wanted to clear away before their family saw nen. The analyst in him wondered if anyone had photographed and documented the injury. For the first time, Spencer was truly glad not to be working this case.

Lokusay pressed against the observation window, as if upset by the separation and physical distance. Nen had tended first a dying parent and then an injured bond mate in a one room hut. Even after a few months as a medical intern on Atlantis, nen disappointment at the separation bled through Spencer's remaining shields.

He moved to stand beside Lokusay, letting their arms touch. Nen wrapped an arm around his and held his hand. Ronon stayed by the door as if guarding them, but Spencer could tell the Tracker was also listening out into the hall. Ronon didn't bother to hide it when he stepped clear just before the door opened to admit Teyla and a handcuffed Doestossay.

Ronon let out a grunt that was more like a growl, and Spencer glared at the handcuffs.

"I'm fine and I don't care about the handcuffs," Doestossay said, brushing a shoulder against Ronon and then Spencer before going to Lokusay's other side. He clasped nen free hand between both his bound ones.

"I apologize," Teyla said. "It seemed better to maintain appearances in the hall and for this meeting."

Spencer was wondering when this became a meeting as Ronon cleared from the door again. A guard let Woolsey in along with an already speaking McKay.

"It would be easier to explain if you had even basic familiarity with Earth computer systems, let alone Ancient ones." The scientist looked around as the door closed behind nen, then immediately began addressing them all. "Part of the point last night was to monitor everyone who came to the storytelling. The cell block offers more surveillance options than anyplace else on Atlantis. Kusanagi identified everyone who walked out, never accepted Athosian food, or whispered anything dangerous as well as who they whispered it to. Then we set up tracer programs on each of those individuals going back weeks." McKay tapped on a tablet. "Long story short, since none of you would understand the subtleties of programming and data mining involved, there were far too many people being idiots but only eleven, seven of whom didn't even attend the storytelling, were part of the larger problem we found online."

McKay stopped talking, tapping away at nen tablet, apparently absorbed in whatever nen and Kusanagi had found.

"Care to share with the class?" Sheppard asked.

When McKay looked up, there was sorrow and disgust written in the set of nen mouth and the wrinkles around nen eyes. Spencer opened his empathic shield just enough to confirm he was reading the emotions right.

"We found a message board, cut off from all other processing so you had to know exactly what you were looking for to find it. It predates Doestossay or even Spencer arriving on Atlantis." Rodney's eyes flicked to Ronon and Teyla before he went on, and Spencer could guess what came next. "Back then about half the hate posts were about Teyla and Athosians, about a quarter targeted Ronon or other Pegasus natives, and the rest were bigotry based on race or sexuality. Not much was overtly sexist, probably because a couple of the main participants were women. Once we found the messages, it wasn't hard to match users to real world identities. Few hackers on Earth could hide from me, let alone Kusanagi, but this group wasn't even a challenge. They were mostly squishy scientists and Marines. Mostly white or otherwise privileged assholes who thought they deserved more than a posting to Atlantis despite their pathetic excuses for rational intellect."

Before anyone could ask, Teyla said, "Major Lorne has taken care of securing those involved under either house arrest or in cells. Hence, Doestossay's room was needed for those more clearly implicated in crimes ranging from hate speech to sabotage and inciting violence. Corporal Miller, who shot Sawasay and tried for Doestossay, was among the users of the message board, as were Dr. Gardini and Dr. Shinobu Toyama. Miller was not in his quarters as the detentions began and appears to have been tipped off, although we are not sure how. We are also less certain now as to who dried the poisonous leaves as two of the new suspects also had access to and fingerprints found in the life sciences lab, besides Dr. Gardini."

"Is there any reason why people in the life sciences would hate people from other planets?" Woolsey asked. It was the first time he'd spoken or even seemed to be involved in the investigation, despite being the expedition commander. Spencer wondered, not for the first time, if Woolsey felt as isolated as any other relative newcomer on Atlantis.

When no one offered an answer, Spencer gave what he could. "Implicit permission is a large factor in why people join hate groups on Earth. Watching a hate group rally or listening to comments from members enables others, especially those who dislike aspects of themselves or their current situation. Hate is also commonly born of fear: fear of the unknown, fear of anything outside a person's definition of 'normal,' fear for their own position. Experts in life science could potentially feel threatened by local experts with specific knowledge of native species, but I suspect having even one person in the lab voicing disdain and bigotry mattered more. Still, we know Parrish and at least two other botanists who commonly attend our international cooking groups are very welcoming to local people and insights."

Teyla fixed Spencer with a considering stare. "Now that Doestossay's situation appears to be only a symptom of an older problem, perhaps you could use your previous training to help analyze the message board Drs. McKay and Kusanagi found?"

"I'll help in any way I can," Spencer said. It was a part of his work that Spencer dreaded. His eidetic memory meant he'd remember every word he read. But he'd read through journals of serial killers for his work with the FBI. Other than mentioning members of his own family, this shouldn't be nearly as bad.

There was a quick knock at the door, and then Beckett came in. He turned to Lokusay first, "They told you Sawasay will be fine, aye? Just a graze, truly, no arteries or organs were touched. Nen didn't even lose much blood."

Lokusay still stood between Spencer and Doestossay at the observation window. Nen glanced back and forth between Beckett and Sawasay. "Can we visit?"

"As soon as Juarez has everything tidied up. No more than two at a time. I'm sure you know the rules."

At Lokusay's nod, Beckett turned to the rest. "It's late, or very early. You should all try to get some sleep."

"Right," Woolsey said, "Good work everyone. While it's disappointing to learn fellow members of our community could hold such hateful beliefs, let alone act on them, all of your hard work and sacrifice has made Atlantis a safer space now."

McKay snorted, but Beckett moved to stand behind him, pressing a discreet hand to the Sentinel's back. As Woolsey left, Beckett and McKay were close behind. When McKay rather blatantly tripped into Sheppard, the Colonel only said, "I have a bit more to wrap up."

McKay grumbled, but let himself be guided away.

Sheppard unlocked Doestossay's handcuffs and said to the room at large, "In case there's any more to this conspiracy than we've found, how about we keep your family here, in the observation room when you're not visiting Sawasay? I already have guards posted, so it's as secure as house arrest. What do you think, Teyla?"

She smiled for the first time since the shooting, and Spencer knew they were both offering the solution they thought kindest for his family. "I will arrange for beds and something to eat, so you may all be as comfortable as possible."

"Thanks Teyla, Sheppard," Ronon said.

The rest of them echoed that and soon arrangements were made for both visiting Sawasay and staying the night. Tea and fruit were provided, rather than the chocolate and cookies that Beckett might have allowed, given the situation. But neither Spencer nor any of the others cared much. They were together again, and not much the worse for all that had happened.

#

Spencer finally had a turn to sit with Sawasay on his own while the others were setting up two beds and bedding in the observation area. "How are you doing?"

Sawasay's eye roll was more reassuring than any other answer could be.

"Before this happened, I'd meant to find time to talk to you."

"Busy couple of days, huh?" Sawasay not only sounded like being shot hadn't upset nen much, but what Spencer picked up with his empathic gift confirmed it. That only reinforced in his mind how different nen background must be, compared to Lokusay and Doestossay or anything Spencer wanted to assume about people their age.

"You don't seem to need me in the role of parent or listener the way the other two do, which is fine," he hurried to add. "I'm trying to understand you each as you are. But I can't stop feeling like I could be doing more for you. You're my family now, and I want you to tell me how I can do better by you."

Sawasay laughed. Then cringed, favoring her hurt side. "Don't make me laugh."

"Noted," Spencer had reached out a hand instinctively, although he didn't know where the impulse had come from. There was nothing he could do to help ease the pain of laughing post- surgery.

Sawasay pressed nen good hand on top of his, with both resting on the bed rail. "I'm not a child. I don't need another parent. But we each have our roles, our advantages for the family. We're all backup for each other, whenever we're needed. Can I trust you to be my backup?"

"Of course," Spencer said without needing to think. "It just doesn't seem like much."

"There have been fewer than twenty people in my life that I trusted to be there when I need someone, and I think I've been luckier than most."

Thinking about it that way, Spencer wasn't sure he'd trusted anyone that much when he was as young as his pinta. He was twenty-two when he'd joined the FBI, which was probably the first time he'd felt like he had backup in any sense, at least since he was too young to know better. "Point taken. I'm still figuring out this whole family thing. I should probably let you rest."

"No, this is good." Nen relaxed back onto the pillows Lokusay had carefully arranged. "I thought you were going to ask about Doestossay running around naked and all that privacy stuff."

"Does it bother you?" Spencer asked.

"Not much. You think you struggle to figure out our family, imagine what I was plunged into with those two—and everything." Sawasay rolled nen eyes again, and Spencer wondered what being gifted with a cluster would be like. "Oddly enough, I've already gotten used to Doestossay forgetting his clothes and rambling about botany, you making breakfasts that always have leftovers, Ronon quoting Satedan sayings or poetry that require way too much thought, and Sawasay trying to take care of everyone. That's family to me now."

"I like that. You're kind of wise sometimes."

Nen squeezed his hand. "I'm your backup. Now, we should all sleep."

#

Back in the observation room, sleep turned out to be the farthest thing from anyone's mind. Ronon and Lokusay were huddled on either side of Doestossay, all seated together on one twin size bed that was barely more than a cot with a mattress.

"Why does this keep happening?" Doestossay whined.

"What keeps happening?" Ronon asked calmly. It didn't sound like he was asking for the first time.

"It just keeps happening," Doestossay repeated. "What my dad did to me. Then I"—Doestossay swallowed, but didn't spell out what he'd done to his dad—"That guard killed Pornal for nothing. Then Lokusay and Sawasay had to, I mean, I think Sawasay was okay with it, but I don't think nen had actually and I know Lokusay—"

"I'm okay," Lokusay spoke with emotion choking nen throat but absolute conviction. "It's hard for all of us, but we're still good people and we'll be okay." Lokusay pulled Doestossay closer until he was curled into her shoulder. His far hand clasped tight to Ronon's shirt, almost pulling the larger man down around them.

"But we shouldn't have to." Doestossay practically sobbed.

Spencer stood frozen on the far side of the small room, up against the observation windows. Sawasay couldn't see them, and nen appeared to have fallen asleep already. Doestossay seemed to be keeping his breakdown private, even from his other bond mates. It was just the four of them, but Spencer felt like an intruder. Maybe he shouldn't have returned when he did.

"I thought it was all over. That life could be normal, better. Then they attacked the greenhouse, tried to frame me, attacked the Athosians at the storytelling. All of a sudden someone I don't even recognize tries to kill me and Sawasay. He didn't try to shoot the other guard. He wanted to kill me but the forcefield was still on and stopped the bullet. He shot Sawasay before I even realized what was happening. Why? Nen works with the military here. People usually like nen. I don't understand anything. It's like anyone could start shooting anyone at any time." Doestossay's words had been running down, losing volume and momentum.

Remembering that Doestossay wanted Spencer to use his gifts and anything else he could to better understand, Spencer opened himself to what his pinta was feeling.

It wasn't the pain or fear that Spencer expected. Those had mostly passed. Instead there was doubt, confusion, something empty and uncertain. Self-doubt. Self -loathing. The emotions seemed to grow darker and turn inward with every moment that passed. Spencer stepped forward and placed a hand on Doestossay's back, near his neck. The startle reaction was so like Spencer's own that he didn't need his gift to know the realization and comfort that came after.

"You're not to blame," was the first thing Spencer said. The words seemed to flow from his own past, his own insecurities. "If you don't understand why people are so mean or why they do bad things, that's because you would never do those things."

"I killed my father," Doestossay said, awash in doubt but also yearning. Yearning for something Spencer wanted to give.

"You did what you had to, but I wish I could have been there to protect you." As he said it, Spencer realized every other member of his family had killed someone to protect themselves or their bond mates. He was the only one spared that. But he didn't have time to wonder if he could have acted in their places, if he was even qualified to offer reassurance. His pinta needed his protection in a different way now. "I wish you hadn't had to do that to protect yourself. But now, you don't have to be that strong. We're all here as backup. We can watch out for people you don't understand. Each of us can see different dangers and keep each other safe. We want to do that for you, for each other."

"Kill if you need to. Live for those you love," Ronon spoke softly. Spencer filed that Satedan maxim away to reconcile with his own world view later.

"I'm glad you're alive," Lokusay said. They all agreed on that.

#

At almost 0900 Sheppard returned with coffee, tea, and breakfast sandwiches. Spencer had managed about three hours sleep on one of the two beds Teyla had sent. Ronon was sitting up on the other with Doestossay asleep against his shoulder. It had been the closest the boy came to lying down. Lokusay was in the room below, asleep where nen sat holding Sawasay's hand. Juarez guarded the inside of the door behind them, even though there were almost certainly more official guards posted in the hall.

"You have so many assigned to guard duty that you're stuck delivering meals now?" Spencer asked.

Sheppard shrugged and took one of the breakfast rolls for himself. "McKay asked me to bring you to look over those messages and other data in his lab. I was told Doestossay had an appointment at this time as well, but it looks like he just fell asleep."

"No, I should go," Doestossay said without opening his eyes.

"Don't have to," Ronon said softly, stroking the boy's hair.

"I think I should." Doestossay blinked his eyes open and squeezed Ronon's hand before pulling himself upright. He took a roll stuffed with the Atlantis version of lox and said, "I'm ready."

The teen's hair was sticking straight up in places and the edge of Ronon's leather vest had left a perfect imprint on his cheek. But Spencer realized this was the time for Doestossay's weekly appointment with his therapist. There was no way Spencer would discourage that. "You should probably wear shoes," he told Doestossay. "Does he have to wear handcuffs?" Spencer didn't try to hold back the look of distaste he gave Sheppard at the latter.

"Fine, no. I wouldn't want to upset your delicate FBI sensibilities." Sheppard mostly looked relieved.

Spencer smiled at Ronon, "Maybe now you can sleep."

Ronon gestured to the room below with his chin, like he had to keep watch and would go there as soon as those two woke up.

Spencer slipped on his shoes, added plenty of sugar to a large cup of coffee, and grabbed a breakfast roll with cheese.

#

After dropping off Doestossay, Spencer found himself reading through hundreds of hateful message board posts while McKay muttered behind him about Satedan armor and who had written down instructions for Satedans to invade Atlantis.

Spencer kept a timeline of who knew what when, documenting as necessary for conspiracy and other charges, while profiling and watching for further security concerns. He tried to keep his personal and emotional reactions separate, but couldn't stop a growing resolve to keep all involved away from his family. He documented very thoroughly.

After a long while McKay turned from tapping at an Ancient console to whisper to Spencer, "It's a good thing Atlantis is on our side. The randomized frequency modulation system the Satedans used to deflect Wraith weapons and mental powers could act like a skeleton key for our Gate shield and who knows what else. Whoever wrote those pages knew almost everything they needed, except the truth about Atlantis. Both what they did and didn't know helps me. There's science underlying this spirit plane stuff, and I'm one step closer to cracking it." McKay quieted as someone approached in the hall.

Spencer almost ignored the shuffling footsteps at the lab door, but his head hurt in a way he'd only felt once before. On Shan Mal, there had been an elder named Mantoleve who broadcast anger and deceit, but around it all had been the mental equivalent of nails scraping a chalkboard.

The Marine who'd just entered the lab was young, not more than 25, with wide eyes and a slightly flushed face. He looked between Spencer and McKay before asking, "How do I report something suspicious for a scientist to check?"

Spencer opened his empathic shields more, despite the pain he was starting to suspect was a sign of mental illness. He needed to know as much as he could about the emotional state and veracity of this potential witness. What he picked up was a lot of fear and confusion, but not the oily sensation he'd associate with deception.

"Everyone's talking about poisoning and dried leaves. I'm Private First Class Yi, and I was working KP last night when Corporal Miller stormed through the kitchen after that storytelling thing." There was a flair in the pain Spencer felt, and Yi shook his head. "I didn't see Miller do anything to the food, but this morning I heard he shot someone. With all the weird stuff we use in the kitchen, I wouldn't recognize Pegasus hemlock if I saw it. So I thought I'd tell you science types. Maybe you can make some gadget to check, like the Gate scans for sickness and stuff."

Yi was opening his mouth to say more when a call came over his radio. "Emergency stations. Unscheduled Gate activation. It's happening again!"

The private's brain was screeching with anxiety at the latest crisis, and Spencer followed the young man as much to protect him from himself as to see what happened next.

McKay shouted after them, "What? Wait!"

#

The three of them, Spencer, McKay, and Private Yi, ended up piling into the Gate room just as the wormhole engaged. Yi had his sidearm in hand, but Spencer decided not to draw his in case he needed to disarm Yi, who might be psychologically compromised. There were already a dozen military with P-90s covering the Gate from both the floor and the balcony. Spencer had to raise his empathic shield to protect his mind from the anxiety and anger filling the room.

When something thumped against the Gate shield, Spencer wasn't the only one to cringe, but it didn't sound large enough to be a person.

Then Chuck announced, "Incoming radio transmission, repeating on various frequencies."

A slightly staticky voice filled the room. "—final warning…Jobara Tolaz has been declared a thief by the Council of Taho. We demand extradition or the right to search your planet. If Jobara Tolaz and the stolen papers or suitable tribute are not delivered to Taho or our representative in Serex Market by second sunset local time, we will refer this case for priority collection. This is your final warning…" The message repeated and then the Gate shut without further drama.

As the military present mostly stood down, and several conversations started or restarted at once, Spencer found Sheppard planted firmly in front of Yi and himself. McKay had disappeared to the command deck above. The Colonel's face was hard and blank, in full military commander mode. "Neither of you should have been here. Private, where is your emergency station?"

"I was protecting Dr. Reid, sir."

"Dr. Reid, do you have any explanation?" Sheppard demanded.

Reducing his empathic shield as little as possible, Spencer sensed the pain he associated with some sort of mental break coming from Yi even more strongly than before the incident. "While I'd like to speak with you about what we just heard at your earliest convenience, I think it's more important right now that I pick up my son from his appointment. If you wouldn't mind calling ahead, I'd like Private Yi to escort me and then perhaps talk with someone there about the events of this morning."

There was a pause in which Sheppard gave away nothing before saying, "You're telling me this is important and needs to happen right away?"

"Yes, I'm fairly certain."

Whatever was going through the commander's head after so many seemingly unrelated and problematic events, he coolly said, "Private Yi, I want you to escort Dr. Reid until he finds his son. Then you will stay and talk to whoever he asks you to speak with. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

#

Five minutes later, Spencer met Doestossay and his therapist at the entrance to the Atlantis Mental Health Center. Another therapist, who Spencer knew had served in Afghanistan and commonly handled military assessments on Atlantis stood to one side and said, "Private Yi, I had a message that you needed to speak with me this morning."

Yi gave Spencer a betrayed look.

"I promise we'll look into what you told McKay and me." Spencer kept his voice calm and sensed it calmed Yi as well. "You know Sheppard will take care of what just happened at the Gate. And I suspect you aren't the only one in his command who's going to be sent here to talk about all that's been happening lately. We're here picking up my own son, so you can tell I believe this is a good place."

"Yes, sir." Private Yi answered stiffly before following the military therapist.

"I know better than to ask," Doestossay said as they left. "Can we go be with our family now?"

#

When they reached the infirmary, they were told Sawasay had been released and they could all go home. Spencer was surprised, but relieved. Doestossay seemed beyond exhausted, and they would all feel safer in their own space.

Private Prasetyo was guarding their door when they arrived.

"They do give you time off, right?" Spencer asked.

"Most of the military is on twelve hour shifts right now. I'm very happy with my assignment." Prasetyo smiled and seemed sincere.

"Well, I'm sure we're not allowed to invite you in, but would you like some coffee or other beverage? I know I'm going to be getting myself something."

Prasetyo shook his head. "I just finished my morning coffee, but thanks for asking. You don't need to worry about me."

"Fine. Feel free to knock, if you change your mind."

Once inside, they found Sawasay laid out on the couch with pillows from both nen bed and Lokusay's. When Spencer looked that way Sawasay rolled nen eyes.

Then Lokusay and Ronon emerged from the kitchen carrying popcorn, juice and tea.

"You're just in time for our morning movie. Ronon suggested _Cinderella_ ," Lokusay said

"We can deconstruct all the cultural assumptions after, if you want," Ronon said with a wave to Spencer.

Doestossay went to hug Lokusay before nen could even set down the bowl of popcorn nen carried. "Can we talk first? I have homework from therapy that I'd rather get out of the way."

"Of course," Lukosay said. Nen hands formed a circle that Spencer now associated with the phrase from both his visits to Shan Mal and from time spent with Lokusay.

"Could I grab some coffee first?" Spencer asked. "Do you want me present for this or should I read in my room?"

"I want the whole family present, but definitely, caffeinate and add sugar to your blood stream if you need to." Doestossay sat at the end of the loveseat closest to Sawasay. Lokusay handed out beverages to the others before settling beside him.

Ronon was seated on floor cushions with a space already made beside him by the time Spencer returned with his coffee.

"I could have just explained this to our cluster, but I realized my whole family needs to know." Doestossay glanced at Ronon and Spencer as he began, but quickly shifted to staring out the window again. The morning fog had already burned away, leaving the room awash in bright sunlight. "The rest of our cluster is listening in. They've all tried really hard not to intrude on my therapy sessions, so I wanted to handle this all at once.

"My therapist and I agreed it would help to tell you all how I understand my own emotions, based on what I guess you'd call my own culture's psychology. That means explaining some of how my people see things. A lot of the words translate, but…I'll just explain it like I did in therapy.

"What my people call first depression would usually prevent a person from working or taking care of children or others. We also speak of second depression. That's paired with another state, and the two may alternate every few months or with some people it might be days. There are gender assumptions about what states are likely to alternate in what ways, and I know gender stuff gets really complicated between cultures, but I'm not sure I'm up to the sort of in-depth discussion Spencer or others might want on that. At least not yet. So I'm just letting you know for now that there may be gender biases to this in my mind, and I'm working to stay aware of that stuff." Doestossay glanced to Lokusay who smiled encouragingly and offered him popcorn. They all waited while he ate some and took a sip of juice.

"Anyway, a common male pattern on my world is bouts of second depression followed by bouts of second anger. Usually someone with second depression is still expected to work but they feel exhausted all the time and maybe aren't intuitive or social in work or ways that others might be. After my mom died, most of my work was farming and physical tasks, which I could do on automatic. But with second depression I didn't have energy for most of the learning or building relationship stuff that most adolescents do. My phases of second anger were usually shorter, and since I didn't have many relationships, most people avoided me because I'd yell or find any excuse to start a fight. My dad took up most of those excuses to fight. He may have had similar psychology, but it seemed like he was always angry around me."

Spencer held back memories from his own childhood that threatened to intrude, but he couldn't help a brief memory of Sawasay saying nen had been lucky to trust so many people for backup in nen life so far. Doestossay's experiences were probably more like Spencer's in that regard, although Spencer had been left with his mom, and fear of discovery rather than anger. He could build on that and what Doestossay was telling them to make this family stronger.

"After about a year, I slipped into a triad we'd call third depression, third anger, and third insecurity. My therapist here uses words like 'low self-esteem' and 'alienation' to cover some of what third insecurity means to me, so that might help if they translate into something useful for any of you. But basically, I was caught up in that triad when my dad decided to make me a eunuch and gift me to our royals. I think I pushed myself toward the third anger part of the cycle to deal with him and get away. By the time I reached Lokusay, I was back to third depression. It was bad enough that I'd compare it to second depression or first maybe. I didn't feel like I'd ever come out of it. But you all helped with that and whatever else was going on with me then. My surgery and the Ancient devices that simulated my balls and the hormone levels I was used to got me feeling much more like myself." The matter of fact way Doestossay referred to his body, including genitals and nudity, seemed to help him process what he'd been through. Now it turned out there was a whole other vocabulary of emotions and psychology that Doestossay had never spoken about before but could draw on from his culture.

"Anyway, I still see myself as slipping between those three states. My therapist says I can build on my cultural frame of reference to understand myself and then try to be who I want to be. It may not make sense to any of you, but I'm trying to make what I used to call third anger into a sort of resistance or righteous indignation that helps me stand up to bullies and challenges, but not necessarily by shouting and fighting. When I was imprisoned and chose to tell that Satedan story, that was a way of fighting back and sticking up for myself. I still kind of wanted to physically hurt the scientist who framed me, and my body felt like it does with third anger. But I felt more in control, using what I learned in therapy and calling it resistance."

Spencer nodded along but didn't say anything. As Doestossay paused to fill his mouth with popcorn again, others around the room also ate or drank, but no one spoke. Spencer sipped his coffee and appreciated the caring, respectful family he'd somehow found himself a part of.

"Now I'm drifting back into third insecurity. It feels like sliding downhill to someplace cold. I can help myself with warm things: warm clothes, warm foods, warm places to sit or work. It would also help if you, my family, could maybe tell me simply if you're happy with what I'm doing, but don't lie. It would also help if you tell me when you're annoyed or unhappy with me, and maybe why and what I can do to fix it. Otherwise, I'll probably think whatever you're feeling is worse when I pick up on it. It takes a lot of energy to come up with and try out strategies to fix whatever I think is wrong, and I don't always have that energy when I'm like this." When Doestossay paused again he glanced around to check all their reactions.

Ronon said, "Must be hard to explain it all when you feel that way."

"It's good you suggested I give the Earth mind doctors a try." Doestossay tried to make light of the situation, but Spencer was pretty sure everyone saw through that.

He wanted to say something helpful, but Spencer's mind was spinning with the intellectual challenge of integrating the new perspective. It felt too much like he empathized with third insecurity on a personal level, but he knew better than to make this about himself. He wished he could frame things that clearly himself and ask the people around him to help in such a way.

As with past emotionally charged situations, Spencer tried to turn his intrapersonal understanding into empathy. "I think I can give the kind of feedback you're asking for, and I want to start by saying how much I appreciate being trusted with this explanation. That was a lot to explain to people from different backgrounds, and you did a great job. I like having clear guidelines for how to help and will do my very best to interact the way you want. Please everyone"—he looked around to the whole room—"tell me if I'm forgetting or making mistakes the rest of you can see. Despite my gifts and everything, I'm still unsure of my social skills." He turned back to Doestossay who met his eyes briefly. "Is it all right to ask, does this affect how or when you want to be touched?"

There was a long enough pause that Spencer wondered if it had been wrong to ask. Then Doestossay said, "Touch is warm. The stuff I'm usually okay with, sitting close and hugs, sound good right now. The part about saying clearly how you feel about me might matter more if there's touch involved. Otherwise I might worry you're feeling sorry for me or… I don't even want to think about it. Touch can be confusing. Making it less confusing would help."

"Being confused by touch, I can totally understand. You said before you want me to use my empathic gift when I'm unsure what you're feeling. Is that still what you want?" Spencer asked.

"When it's comfortable for you, yes." Doestossay took a deep breath and sank back into the loveseat.

"Should we cuddle and watch _Cinderella_ now?" Lokusay asked.

"Definitely," Doestossay said.

"I'm very impressed and happy to be with you right now," Lokusay added.

"Me, too," Sawasay said. "But I have to stay put on this couch for fear of upsetting all the pillows and blankets Lokusay brought out."

"Love you, too," Lokusay said.

As they started the movie, Spencer's empathic shields naturally unfolded into a more open state. He wished Doestossay could feel the caring and acceptance all around him. To Spencer it felt warm, and Doestossay needed that warmth more than he did. But Spencer caught the stiller than usual expression on Doestossay's face and remembered his whole cluster had been listening. No doubt, some of them would be communicating and offering their support now.

Soon Ronon pulled Spencer closer so he was leaning against the larger man's chest. The physical warmth and what he felt through their bond boiled away Spencer's own insecurities. At least for the moment, he felt surrounded by love and comfort.

#

At the end of _Cinderella_ Sawasay asked, "Were the mice a colonized people who were forced to accept the dominant culture?"

With only a brief scrunching of his face, Spencer said, "Remember when we spoke about fantasy stories, animation, and especially Disney not being even close to reality?"

Lokusay cut in before Spencer tried to explain all over again. "I guess, the magic with transforming the pumpkin and mice was told so much like a myth or fantasy, that the mice seemed plausible in comparison."

"The shape changing reminded me of your story last night, but I assumed that only happened on the spirit plane," Spencer said. "Do you have talking animals in Pegasus?"

"No," Ronon answered.

At the same time, all three teens said, "Yes."

From Lokusay's wide eyes and Doestossay's guilty frown, Spencer suspected another member of their cluster lived someplace with a species of talking animals and they'd all taken it as common knowledge. Even Sawasay had slipped up, although nen expression didn't give as much away. Much as Spencer wanted to know everything, he didn't know which members of their cluster might be watching, and he didn't want to alienate any of them.

Stretching his back in the hope that acting relaxed would calm others, Spencer said, "I was wondering, with all we've discussed about gender expectations in different cultures here, what do you think of even the fantasy mice having very binary gendered clothing?"

"That's part of why I asked about forced cultural conversion," Sawasay reiterated. "Also, did they all believe sewing was women's work? Is that a common belief on Earth?"

Before the conversation could run away with them, Ronon turned toward the door. There was a knock. The Tracker was first on his feet to answer it.

"Lunch meeting here? We brought lunch." Sheppard, McKay, Lorne, and Teyla came in carrying an impressive amount of food. Most of it was from the mess, but Teyla had clearly stopped for Athosian bread and tea.

Sawasay stayed spread out on the couch. Lokusay brought her a plate. The others shifted chairs or sat on the floor until they all formed a rough circle in the living room.

"How are you feeling, Sawasay?" Teyla asked.

"I'm enjoying the day off, but I'd really like to get out of here by tomorrow. Are we under house arrest?"

"No," Lorne answered. "With over a dozen people under house arrest or in cells as suspects for conspiracy or hate crimes, we've made it clear to the guards that all of you and Parrish are being guarded for your own protection, in case we've missed anyone."

"I'm keeping someone with Private Yi on medical advice for now," Sheppard said with an eyebrow raised at Spencer. "Of course, whatever is going on psychologically with him is confidential. Although I've been advised to send all my people in for early assessments when possible. Maybe you could shed some light on how the two of you ended up in the Gate room and how you knew he needed counseling?"

Spencer hadn't thought through what he should or shouldn't say if his gift could actually detect some forms of mental illness. "The therapist would have told you if Yi was a threat to himself or others, right?"

"There would have been a request for a psychiatric hold rather than a suggestion I not assign him solo duties until his next appointment."

That fit with what Spencer had sensed. "Yi profiled as inserting himself into the investigation not due to guilt but because of heightened anxiety. We may have a public health crisis building here. You saw how many people were worried about the food last night."

"I was pleased by how many overcame their biases and whatever rumors had been spread." Teyla sat on the floor calmly sipping tea and eating salad.

"So was I." Spencer ignored his sandwich and soup. Memories from the message board he'd studied that morning tumbled through his mind along with how he'd been interrupted by Yi. "But letting the poisoning suspicions spread rather than revealing the frame up from the start, may have some unintended consequences. People are worrying about their food when they haven't before. At the same time, we've had a couple of incidents at the Gate, a very public airing of xenophobia and hate, as well as several arrests or detentions. Much as Teyla and Namar stepped up to improve community relations before, we're going to need some community and trust building in the wake of all this."

"Would it work if we led some of that?" Lokusay asked. "Some of my Athosian and other friends would probably help. And Sawasay has friends among the military here."

"I have an idea for another greenhouse." Everyone looked at Doestossay as he said it. "What better way to counter violence and jealousy directed at a greenhouse then to bring everyone together to refurbish another? Dr. Parrish and I had plans for one that mostly needs cleaning and soil preparation. Lokusay read me an Earth story about a community garden."

" _Seedfolks_ ," Lokusay offered the title. "I like what you're suggesting.

Spencer remembered a teacher from the Atlantis children's center suggesting the simple chapter book for their family. "It's a story about diversity and acceptance involving immigrants from many countries coming together to garden in a vacant lot in Cleveland. I'm glad you thought of that." Spencer nodded to Doestossay, hoping that was the kind of feedback—and backup—he needed.

Doestossay continued with an enthusiasm that energized his whole body. "Instead of being afraid of plants and food, everyone could learn about what we grow. They'd be able to identify it all for themselves, maybe even plant foods they've liked off world or something they've missed from wherever they grew up."

"They say food tastes better if you grow it yourself," Lorne volunteered. He took a bite of soup and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Eat what you sow," Ronon added. Spencer couldn't tell if that was an authentic Satedan saying, but suspected Ronon was well aware he was riffing off the English saying, "You reap what you sow."

McKay shook nen head. "This gardening better not be mandatory."

"It's not a big enough greenhouse for each person to plant for themselves. But groups could share planters, people could sign up to water or weed for their group." Doestossay spoke around a mouthful of sandwich.

Teyla passed him a napkin with a smile. "The Athosians have a saying, 'Let community grow and spread.' Perhaps such words or a reading from the book mentioned could build community around the greenhouse project."

"Okay, whatever. I'll send someone to check the structural stability," McKay also spoke with nen mouth full, a napkin ignored at nen side. "Now what about this latest threat through the Gate, from the Council of Taho?"

When no one else spoke, Spencer asked what he'd thought was the obvious question, "Could they be related to the Library of Taho? Teyla said it was considered a myth or destroyed like the School of Thimm and the Comforters of Shan Mal, but we've discovered both of those survived the Wraith and are coming out of hiding. And we know Jobara had pages torn from a book that Ronon didn't think was printed on Sateda."

"You think Jobara stole from the Library of Taho the instructions for invading Atlantis?" Teyla asked.

"Dado's reactions when offered books and when I asked him to take good care of them read as if he'd been taught a great deal of respect for books. I wouldn't be surprised if he spent a large chunk of time in a library before coming here." Spencer smiled as Teyla passed him an Athosian roll with berries with a glance toward his other food to remind him to eat.

"And the story Dado told involved finding acceptance and solace in a library," Lokusay added.

"I questioned Jobara in a separate room and played the message for her," Sheppard said. "I doubt she's told the others. They almost never speak. Do you want to try questioning Dado?" He looked to Spencer. "I could pull him out of the cell and play bad cop, so you could come in all sympathetic."

Much as Spencer respected the Colonel, he doubted Sheppard had the innate abilities or training for such information gathering. After battling again with his perception of local ages and what he'd learned about youth versus adult roles in Satedan and other cultures, Spencer said, "Dado is used to me visiting where his parents can see. If I play the recording for all three of them but ask for Dado's help, I think he'll appreciate the respect and honesty and try to live up to his own personal values."

"Do we know what those are?" Sheppard asked.

"We know he's taken good care of our books and that he chose a meaningful contribution for storytelling last night." Spencer found himself sitting up straighter and pausing for effect, the way he'd learned to present his analysis as an FBI agent.

"I'll trust your judgement," Sheppard said. "How about if I escort you there but wait outside the door to cue the recording."

"Could you please eat first?" Lokusay said.

There was no way Spencer was arguing with nen over that. He picked up his sandwich and watched Doestossay twitch with indecision before speaking.

"Could I speak with Dr. Parrish?" Doestossay had finished a large plate of food including two extra rolls from Teyla, but now sat staring at a bit of greenery left on his plate.

"About the greenhouse idea?" Teyla asked.

"And something else. Something kind of personal."

Teyla looked around the room for any objections before being the one to respond, "I don't see why not."

Doestossay's eyes flicked to Lorne, who said, "I'd be happy to escort you to him, if you want."

Sawasay looked to Sheppard, "I don't suppose I could convince you I'm fit enough for duty? I know you're stretched thin with so many standing guard. I'm healthy enough for that."

"And you know I wouldn't risk Beckett's wrath. Doctor's orders trump even mine around here." Sheppard spoke to nen with a fondness he would never show in public. Spencer doubted most people on Atlantis ever saw that aspect of the military commander. In a sharper but still fond tone, Sheppard said to McKay, "Think you could search out the last known location for the Library of Taho?"

McKay snorted. "Genius here. I have better things to do. But I'll put a minion on it."

With that everyone dispersed.

#

Before facing Dado, Spencer picked out a few more books, including the one with Doestossay's story from the night before. The title translated as _Stories of Returning_.

He entered the three person holding room alone, and walked over to greet Dado as usual.

"I appreciated the story you told last night. Did you learn it from a book?"

Dado said, "Yes."

Spencer was pleased with the verbal response, but tried not to react too strongly. "I brought the book Doestossay's story came from. I could ask around about any others from the storytelling that might have written forms, if you'd like that."

"Doestossay does not sound Satedan."

Spencer wasn't sure if Dado was commenting on the name or Doestossay's accent, but decided that wasn't important. The goal was to build trust. "He's adopted, but he's learning to read and speak Satedan even though he knew no written language before."

"Why was he in a cell?"

Spencer hadn't thought through how that might look to Dado, who appeared to be a similar age. "He was framed for a crime he didn't have any part in. We've found those responsible now, and Doestossay has gone home."

When Dado asked no further questions, Spencer asked, "Before, when I showed you the pages torn from a book with information on security here, I could see you didn't know about that part. We realize you're not responsible for everything your parents chose to do. You can help us to find justice for yourself as well as them."

Dado didn't reply.

"Did your mom tell you about the message we received today accusing her of another crime?"

Dado shook his head and looked to both of the women imprisoned beside him. When neither spoke or made any move, Dado looked back to Spencer.

"Let me play you the transmission we received through our Gate." Spencer turned to the door, not sure if Sheppard had to activate some trigger or just ask Atlantis over their bond. Either way, he'd probably pretend to use some sort of wall controls while there were guards watching.

After only a few seconds, the message played. It was loud in the quiet room. "Jobara Tolaz has been declared a thief by the Council of Taho. We demand extradition or the right to search your planet. If Jobara Tolaz and the stolen papers or suitable tribute are not delivered to Taho or our representative in Serex Market by second sunset local time, we will refer this case for priority collection. This is your final warning."

No one had taught Dado to hide his emotions. Spencer had his empathy open to check for lies, but the power of the youth's distress almost knocked him over.

"What have you done?" Dado turned to Jobara, who merely lowered her chin and stared at him. "You not only deceived me, you used my training to hurt the library."

When Dado turned back to Spencer, the analyst pulled the evidence bag holding the folded pages from his vest. "So you think this is what they want back?"

Spencer held the pages close enough to the bars for Dado to clearly see the edges torn from a sewn binding.

"I told you where Satedan works were stored because you're the one who taught me to respect our heritage. How could you tear pages from a book?" Dado's conviction and anger were as honest as any kid who would choose to first speak in order to share a story about a library.

"They are our birthright," Jobara half shouted back.

"I'll lose my apprenticeship!" Dado shouted louder.

"We weren't going back. We are meant to live here." Jobara's voice was stern, but she did not shout at her son.

"You decided we were meant to live here. I'd rather live there. You ruined my chances and didn't even tell me." Dado broke down in tears for the first time Spencer had seen.

Jobara turned her back and ignored him.

Spencer waited until the sobs quieted a bit. "Listen. I don't know much about raising kids. I didn't have a particularly normal childhood myself. But as far as I can tell, there are times when young people have to take responsibility for themselves, even if it doesn't match what a parent wants."

"Don't try to turn my son against me," Jobara muttered without turning around. "He will never choose you over me."

Spencer continued speaking calmly to Dado. "I don't want to turn you against anyone or tell you what to do. There was a time in my life when my mother couldn't stay at home safely anymore. We live in different places now, but I still love her and write to her almost every day. The way I see it, Jobara made some choices that upset the Council of Taho. Now it's your turn to make a choice. Do you want to be part of a mission to bring these pages back to them and explain how you might have told her a location, but you didn't know about her crime? Otherwise, I'm going to meet with them and work out the best deal for my people. But if you really were an apprentice there, I think they'd at least hear you out. It's up to you to decide what you think you owe them or yourself."

"At the very least they'll imprison her for years," Dado said. He'd stopped crying and wiped his face.

"You'd know better than I would."

"Would you fight them to keep us prisoners here?" Jobara called without turning.

"I'm not in charge of those decisions. We'd start by talking to them, comparing the severity of charges and what would satisfy each of our justice systems. You all have a right to a trial here, but we also have procedures for mediation, if you choose that." He met Dado's eyes, making it clear Spencer saw the youth as a separate individual. "Right now, our charges against you personally are minimal. If you cooperate with us, we could work to restore your internship there or something with us. What do you want?"

"I liked the work I was doing there. I don't want to see my parents hurt, but I understand paying for crimes or even mistakes. Will you help me make arrangements to at least communicate with them and maybe see them sometimes?"

Spencer expected another interruption from Jobara, but she stayed silent, as did Nadi. He wondered if their dedication as parents might be comparable to their zeal as Satedans. "I would be glad to help you. Maybe I can play a role as your representative in this process, with your agreement at any decision points."

"Yes. I want to make this right. The boy you mentioned, Doestossay, is a better Satedan than I have been, to learn our language and share our stories the way he did. I want to do better."

#

The community dinner series Spencer had started early in his time on Atlantis was scheduled to make qabili palau and kaddo bowrani that night. While Spencer, along with parts of his family, had only managed to attend about half the cooking and dinner workshops over the last several months, Sheppard and Teyla felt strongly that they should attend tonight. Lorne was excited to come along on protective guard duty. Spencer wasn't sure how much of that excitement was about the food and how much involved Doestossay convincing Dr. Parrish to attend as well.

The Marine hosting the event in a shared kitchen near the Athosian residences opened with, "Hi, I'm Sergeant Kelly Ambrose. The recipes I'm teaching tonight are from a place on Earth called Afghanistan. I spent part of my childhood there while my parents helped start schools and do whatever else each community wanted help doing. I learned a couple of local languages, Dari and Pashto. I also learned a lot of cooking and poetry, both of which are very important to Afghan culture. My first posting as a Marine was in Afghanistan, where I tried to build cultural understanding, until US policy changed." All of the military and most everyone else from Earth, could read the subtext behind the Sergeant's story. "Anyway, I couldn't find anyone of actual Afghan descent serving on Atlantis, so I'm going to offer the best I can from my childhood and service there. I'll begin with a poem about sharing food."

After some rather lengthy digressions where the twenty or so participants from Earth tried to explain to an almost equal number of Pegasus natives why translation was a problem on Earth and what the US military was doing in Afghanistan, Kelly started laying out and explaining ingredients. "Mint and garlic are essential to kaddo bowrani, and Earth varieties of each are grown here on Atlantis. However, we'll be substituting an Athosian squash, catupo, for pumpkin, and in the qabili palau, we'll be using local varieties of rice, carrots, raisins, and onions, which you're probably all used to from the Atlantis mess hall. I've asked Dr. Parrish, a botanist, and Doestossay, who grew up farming in this galaxy, to speak briefly about recent food issues."

Spencer lowered his empathic shields even as every muscle in his body tightened. It took only moments to realize that the rest of his family, as well as Parrish and Lorne, had known this was planned. They were all happy and eager, even if Doestossay and Parrish showed their usual anxiety at speaking in front of others. At least the crowd read as friendly. Kelly had done a fine job of putting everyone at ease.

Since Doestossay had gone to speak with Parrish while Spencer was busy with Dado, the analyst realized he shouldn't be upset if decisions made in his absence seemed sprung upon him now. Still, he tightened his shields a bit to make sure his unease and issues with being left out didn't broadcast to others.

Taking their place behind the counter lined with raw ingredients, Parrish started speaking while Doestossay stood beside him. "I guess most of you know I'm a botanist." Mila and Shivonne, two botanists who'd participated since the very first community dinner, clapped and cheered. Parrish blushed and looked to Lorne who gave him a thumbs up. "I took Doestossay as my apprentice because he knows so much about local food plants. By now you've probably all heard some rumors about poisonous leaves and hopefully also that someone set that up to frame Doestossay or me and to scare the community at large. Woolsey put out a public statement about our new community greenhouse initiative, our innocence on all counts, and how all our food stuffs are safe and tested, but of course, he had to leave out most of the interesting parts."

That got a chuckle from the audience. Parrish didn't seem like a charismatic speaker at first glance, but together he and Doestossay practically radiated sincerity. Spencer was pretty sure others saw it in their unassuming body language and speech. It played well to the small crowd gathered for dinner, which might have been a consideration when the others planned whatever this was.

"Anyway, we're here to reassure everyone the food is safe, here and in the mess hall. The botany department oversees everything grown or brought into Atlantis. The Gate has safety protocols that have now been extended using Ancient tech to cover all food services areas. But there's something more you should know. It's something a lot of people prefer to keep private. I very much believe people should be able to keep such things private. But personally, I've never been that private of a person. Most of those who work with me know I'm neurodivergent. A lot of people know I'm gay." Several eyes flicked to Major Lorne, not very covertly, but Lorne showed no sign of caring. "Now I guess I'm going to be the first of our expedition from Earth to go on record and say I have gifts, of the kind you've heard some Pegasus peoples talk about. Gifts show up in many stories told and circulated around Atlantis lately, and they were mentioned in hateful graffiti on our greenhouse."

The room turned silent and less comfortable. Spencer sensed a lot of confusion, probably about why this was being announced in this manner to a cooking group. There was discomfort and some fear. But much of the crowd was also excited and pleased. They'd come for food and a cooking lesson. Now they were among the first to be let in on a secret.

Doestossay spoke next. "I think everyone knows about me and my bond mates by now." He waved at Lokusay who was standing in the back beside Sawasay, who'd been ordered to sit and not move around too much if nen attended. "We have a bond that lets us know certain things about each other and we all have the same flying spirit guides, what some call spirit animals, that sometimes see stuff or warn us. That's it; believe what you will. I just wanted to be honest, but I'd rather not be asked about this any more than I want to be asked about the surgery I had when I arrived here."

It had become a very clear rule on Atlantis not to ask Doestossay about his surgery. The first time a Marine asked something inappropriate, both Ronon and Sheppard made him regret it for weeks. Either Doestossay had a good intuition for what would keep people from asking while still normalizing the situation, or someone had coached him to say that. Spencer glanced at Major Lorne, who was watching the proceedings at least as closely as Spencer was, and thought he saw his strategic mind behind this public declaration. As Sheppard's XO and the first person without gifts that they'd had to tell about spirit animals, Lorne had unique insights into making even the most bizarre revelation seem normal on Atlantis.

Parrish took over speaking again. "If anyone from Earth is safe admitting to such gifts, it's probably me, because I'm not military, and my gift happens to be most useful for my science work. As far as I can tell, my spirit animal wants me to act and speak on behalf of plants. So I named nen Lorax." Parrish looked to his left shoulder where his bat had just appeared. "If any of you can see Lorax sitting on my shoulder, you have gifts too and are welcome to come speak with me privately. If not, you may still have gifts. As Doestossay said, he can see his spirit animal and his bond mates' spirit animals, but he can't see anyone else's. That appears to be most common."

Parrish waited while pretty much everyone in the crowd besides Spencer and Parrish confirmed they couldn't see Lorax. Then he said, "I don't want to delay dinner too long, but I wanted to tell you that Lorax has also agreed to watch over all the plant based foods on Atlantis and warn us of any problems. Everything here tonight has been checked by the Ancient tech I mentioned earlier, by me as a botanist, by Doestossay who knows local food crops, as well as by Lorax. Now I'm not a magician, but as a scientist, I'm guessing some of you might want further proof. If you want to nominate a couple of people from the audience to hide a piece of vegetable matter, Lorax and I are willing to provide whatever relatively quick demonstrations you'd like."

In less than a minute of rather impressive consensus decision making, a scientist whose uniform flag indicated she was Swiss and a US Marine were sent forward.

The scientist said, "I don't know if this counts, but I have a sample of microbial mat on my person. Can you tell me where?"

Spencer saw Lorax race over to the woman, scurry up her pant leg and poke nen nose where a locket hung around her neck. Nothing in the woman's body language or emotions indicated she could sense the spirit animal's presence.

"In your necklace," Parrish said. The scientist smiled and opened the rectangular pendant to show everyone a small patch of something brown with pores like coral.

When all eyes turned to the Marine volunteered for the second experiment, he said, "Can I ask you to leave the room while I hide one of the local raisins?"

"Sure," Parrish said. "I'll even take Lorax with me."

Spencer watched them leave as everyone laughed, still not sure what to think of the invisible Lorax.

As an amateur magician himself, Spencer was impressed when the Marine used a stealthy hand off to pass the raisin to a Russian pilot who dropped it under his shoe and stepped to cover it while the Marine faked hiding it in a light sconce.

Of course, Lorax wasn't fooled when nen returned with Parrish. The whole audience had a good laugh at how most of them had been tricked when the Russian showed the raisin was in fact under his shoe, just as Parrish had claimed. There was a scattering of applause before Kelly took over once again.

With bursts of poetry and song, she guided them all in making both Afghani dishes. The qabili palau took a while but was the best chicken and rice dish Spencer had ever tasted, with the added color and flavor from the local variants of raisins and carrots. The kaddo bowrani was less festive in appearance but left the whole room smelling of sweet, baked squash that contrasted nicely with the yogurt sauce they'd made. Everyone seemed to quickly forget Atlantis' recent troubles and any concerns about gifts or tainted food. The evening settled into the usual blend of friendly conversation, learning, and enjoying good food together.

#


	5. Chapter 5

_Spencer ran for the tool shed as thrown rocks like cannon fire shattered the greenhouse around him. At any moment a shard of glass could stab through his head or leg, kill him or leave him unable to escape as rocks and glass rained down around him. He was powerless to stop it, but he had to survive to protect his family._

_Through the ever increasing gaps, Spencer could hear a hostile mob in Atlantis uniforms chanting:_

_"Stop the alien conspiracy!"_

_"Don't let them use gifts against us!"_

_"Kill them all!"_

_Then he was running across a twilit field chased by villagers with pitchfork and torches. Among the villagers appeared monsters—Wraith! But the villagers cheered and teamed up with the Wraith._

_"Control their gifts or kill the gifted!"_

_"Anyone different is dangerous!"_

_"Run, Tracker! Run!"_

_The last words didn't make sense until Spencer saw Ronon running beside him. His bond mate was battered and bloody and didn't seem to see Spencer at first. Then their bond came alive, screaming with terror and hurt._

#

Waking abruptly, Spencer's eyes snapped open. The bedroom he shared with Ronon was silent and dark. Nothing was out of place. Ronon lay beside him very still, not touching.

"I can hear your breathing and heart beating fast like mine." Ronon spoke in a soft, controlled voice, but Spencer could feel the lingering fear and pain beneath it. "Did my nightmare wake you because of our bond?"

"I think the nightmare started with me." Spencer felt cold, clammy. He'd been sweating a moment before. "The part in the greenhouse with Lanteans attacking me was definitely triggered by reading through that message board today. The villagers with pitchforks are an old Hollywood cliché. Have you even seen movies with that?"

"No, but I've seen Wraith worshippers armed with pitchforks. There wasn't any greenhouse in my dream. Were there Wraith as well as Wraith worshippers in your dream?"

"At the end," Spencer calmed as his analytical processes engaged. "Maybe you merged into my nightmare from whatever you were dreaming before. Do you remember anything before being chased through a field?"

"I had set Wraith traps in a cluster of trees while I slept up high."

"I didn't see that part. Maybe the similarities in our independent nightmares triggered some connection across our bond?" Spencer reached out a hand, brushing just his little finger against Ronon's.

"I don't want to bring the Wraith into your nightmares." Ronon didn't pull his hand away but didn't offer more touch, either.

"I don't think we'll make it worse for each other. The Wraith don't mean as much to me as they do to you. Maybe this shows our bond in growing stronger, or it might happen randomly sometimes, like the cat when we first kissed." Spencer was still embarrassed that he'd thought of a cat put on trial in Plymouth during their first kiss and that Ronon had somehow picked up the image. "Besides, noticing you running beside me seems to have woken me up."

"Me, too," Ronon said. "Think you'll go back to sleep?"

Spencer glanced at the clock and saw it was less than two hours before he usually woke. "Not likely. I could work in the living room if you think you can sleep some more."

"Stay," Ronon clasped Spencer's hand. His fingers were warm and achingly familiar in Spencer's grasp. "What would help you feel better?"

Spencer thought about what Doestossay had said, about pairing words with touch, about chasing away insecurities by stating what might be assumed obvious. "Let me touch you and talk?"

"Okay."

Spencer rolled to his side and traced three fingers down Ronon's arm. "I need to deny all the bad things I read today. It will probably sound ridiculous, since you already know what I believe—"

"Just do it."

"I'm glad you joined Sheppard's Gate team. There's no question in my mind that your strength and knowledge contributed to that team's success and the survival of the expedition." Spencer cupped his whole hand around Ronon's bicep. "Your gifts make you more you." Tracing along Ronon's muscles, he let his hand stroke across and around Ronon's impressive chest. They had both been sleeping bare chested, and Spencer took a moment to appreciate that now. "Gifts cannot be evil or bestial. Even if Teyla's gift might have somehow originated from experiments long ago, which I'm not convinced of, that wouldn't make her or her gifts tainted now."

"They wrote about that on their message board?" Ronon asked.

"Yes." Spencer shuddered at the even more disgusting and hateful things written about Teyla by closed-minded, disgusting Earth people. Ronon tugged until Spencer shifted to sit astride his bond mate's hips. Neither of them was aroused. But the position allowed Spencer to run both hands in matching patterns across Ronon's chest and shoulders while Ronon stroked Spencer's sides gently, not interfering.

Spencer continued speaking, quietly, so no one outside their room could here. "Each person chooses who they are and how they use whatever aptitudes, talents, or gifts they possess. We need to value every person as an individual, respecting their choices and agency. I always want to value and respect you. Even our spirit animals don't seem bestial to me. Rikki probably knows more about our bond and anything involving the spirit plane than I do. And Atlantis—I don't even know what to say about Atlantis as far as bond mates or spirit animals. All of us, including Atlantis, with gifts or without, need to learn and use whatever we can to benefit people, plants, sentient flying cities—all living things—as broadly as possible."

Quoting poetry in Satedan, Ronon said what amounted to, "We learn to be stronger together and through learning make everyone stronger."

"That's beautiful," Spencer said.

"Let me write poetry on you?" Ronon looked to Spencer for agreement. "My pen washes off skin easily. But words on skin, even for a moment, become part of us."

Spencer nodded, sensing this was another piece of Satedan heritage that mattered to Ronon, like the tattoos that marked them as bond mates.

Ronon pulled a felt tipped calligraphy pen from the top drawer of his nightstand. He wrote in Satedan, starting on the ribs just below Spencer's nipples. The tacky sweat from Spencer's nightmare had dried, but Spencer felt far from clean. He knew he'd have to wash before they started their day. But Ronon's intent expression and what he had said about "even for a moment" and "become part of us" centered Spencer.

Looking down, Spencer could see the Satedan characters. He could read the first line of a poem about love and respect. Closing his eyes, he tried to feel the shapes being formed, to read without seeing the poetry his lover wanted to sink into him. He couldn't interpret the pen strokes as quickly as they were applied, but the touch was his lover's, soft and caring. It heated his sensitive skin and melted him with pleasure even as he sat still and tall. Their bond sang like poetry. The words and the touch brought Spencer peace, in body and spirit.

When Ronon set down his pen, Spencer didn't know how much time had passed. He stared down at his bond mate, feeling awestruck, hiding nothing.

It was only as his lover ran flat palms down his thighs that Spencer realized he was aroused. His pajama pants tugged against his erection. "Oooh." He rocked forward and felt Ronon's hardness beneath him.

"Want me to blow you?" Ronon asked.

Spencer could feel both amusement and desire thrumming through their bond. "Then you couldn't read me what you wrote."

"Not that kind of poetry." Ronon massaged the inside of Spencer's thighs.

"I want to hear it, in your voice while it's still on my skin, while I feel this way." Spencer rocked again, making Ronon moan.

"As you wish." Spencer knew that quote and what Ronon meant. He would have known anyway from all the love flowing through their bond.

That meant Spencer was caught off guard when Ronon rolled them both to the right, somehow ending up straddling Spencer and with both their sleep pants pulled down. Spencer could only stare up, still in awe, as Ronon pulled lube from the nightstand and warmed it in his hand as he began to read about love, respect, and devotion that would span all ages.

It wasn't a long poem. Spencer's chest wasn't that big. The last lines about death definitely didn't count as erotic. But by that time Ronon had them both in hand. He stroked their cocks slowly together as he began reciting what might have been the Satedan equivalent of a dirty limerick. It seemed to go on and on, stanza after stanza, with puns and word play Spencer didn't always catch but could assume from context. He was fairly sure the part about hiding the equivalent of a carrot, a potato, and then the couple's whole store of winter vegetables as if they were anal beads that would rub against the prostate as the bearer tried to convince robbers they had nothing left to steal…That had to be more humorous than arousing even to native speakers of Satedan.

Nonetheless, Spencer traced the words he could across Ronon's chest with his fingertips. He let his fingers brush Ronon's nipples, both hands spelling out the same words in parallel until he barely knew what he was writing. The Tracker could always tell when Spencer was close to coming. He used his gifts to keep Spencer on edge as his poems became more and more obscene.

Spencer let himself drift with the rhythm of Ronon's voice. He smelled his lover's musk and the salty eucalyptus scent from Ronon's skin and the lotion he used. The roughness of Ronon's large well-oiled hand teased Spencer, until he rolled the larger man's nipples between his fingers, giving up any pretense of writing letters.

Then Ronon's cadence changed. The words he uttered became a love poem. A list of every aspect the poet cherished in his lover. As Ronon gazed intently into Spencer's eyes, he finally let his hand keep going, take them both past the point of no return. Spencer came in long spurts, feeling Ronon join him. Both of them overwriting the poetry written on Spencer's skin even as Ronon panted out something even more intimate, more heartfelt. All of Spencer's defenses were down. His heart and mind accepted the words, trusted the voice that gave them, felt on his skin and deep beneath how truly he was valued, loved and cherished in that moment.

#

They stepped through the Gate from Atlantis the next morning into the brightness of midday in Serex Market. While McKay's minions had failed to turn up a Gate address for Taho and Dado swore he didn't know it, everyone knew the address for one of the largest markets in Pegasus, a market that ran every day and had quadrupled in size since the removal of the Wraith threat. Banners on booths and shops mostly used pictures, so as not to offend those who scorned written language. Of course, booksellers and others whose trade involved written words used writing on their signs. The representative from Taho sat in front of three walls full of books beneath a sign that claimed in three different languages, "Find Any Book Ever Written."

In the end, Sawasay had argued nen way onto Sheppard's team for this mission. Even for those who believed the three bond mates on Atlantis shared only a vague communication gift, it was obvious that having one of them relay information could be useful. Despite being injured, Sawasay had the best chance at self-defense and the most experience off world. Nen could also read three languages, which might matter if they made it into the actual library, and none of them wanted to admit they could see through each other's eyes. In the end, Beckett gave nen medical clearance as an observer, and Ronon was fully cleared for active duty. Lorne and Parrish had agreed to stay with Doestossay and Lokusay in their quarters while the rest of the family was away, just in case.

Spencer came officially as Dado's advocate, although his skills as an analyst and negotiator may have helped ease the way. Jobara and Nadi were left in their cells, so that no one had to worry about them escaping, attacking, or saying something to further upset the Council of Taho.

Dado took one look at the large, robed figure sitting beneath the words "Find Any Book Ever Written" and approached with his cuffed hands held before his chest in a V-shape, as if cradling an open book. The rest of the team boxed him in but let him speak first as they'd agreed ahead of time. "Librarian Tep, it is an honor to greet you again."

"Apprentice Dado, I am surprised to see you outside your family's company. Explain your circumstances." Tep did not hide nen perusal of the party accompanying the wayward apprentice. Whatever they might want from Jobara, Spencer was glad to see some real concern for Dado.

"My parents tried to seize Atlantis, the City of the Ancestors, and failed. They and I are now prisoners, but these Lanteans are willing to discuss charges and just outcomes with you."

"Who speaks for the Lanteans?" Tep asked.

"Colonel John Sheppard, pleased to meet you." Sheppard stepped forward with a relaxed version of his military posture. "We like books, libraries, and peaceful relations, but we have our own charges against Jobara Tolaz and her family for attacking us." As usual for off world missions, the entire party wore black tac vests and clothing with no distinguishing flags, pins, or rank insignia. They were all Lantean and presented a united front.

"I see." Tep made the open book gesture in front of nen own chest. "I am only empowered to negotiate tribute in exchange for property or people charged. For special considerations, I must send you on to Taho."

"That sounds fine, but we don't know how to get there," Sheppard said.

"If you would fill out a library visitor application, I'd be happy give the address and a preliminary pass. Can you read and write one of the languages on my sign, or will you need assistance?"

Sheppard looked to Sawasay who said, "I can do it."

Tep motioned Sawasay to a standing desk and placed a piece of speckled tan paper before nen.

"Should I list my name, Colonel Sheppard's name, or everyone in our group?"

"Put your leader's name at the top and your own at the bottom as the scribe," Tep said.

"They want a Ring address where you can be reached."

Sheppard turned to Tep and gestured with open hands, a bit lower and further apart that Tep and Dado had used. "Someone knew our address to deliver your message, but we usually keep that kind of private. Anyone walking through unexpectedly would end up dead, so it's for others' safety as well as our own."

"Put already on file. Communicate first," Tep said without batting an eye.

"And a responsible party if you cannot be located in a timely manner?" Sawasay asked.

"List Richard Woolsey," Sheppard said with a smile. "That sounds like the job he signed up for."

"As scribe I'm supposed to read you the following terms before you mark agreement in the way of your people." Sawasay took a deep breath and read, "As a visitor, I promise to only touch books provided to me. My hands will be clean and dry. I will use a touch cloth when requested. I will not fold, mark, crinkle, tear, or remove pages of any book or document. I understand that as a visitor, I may not remove any materials from the library. I further promise not to cause harm to any book, item, person, or structure on Taho. If I or any guests I bring with me break this agreement, I agree to accept any penalties judged reasonable by the Council of Taho or their representative."

"Guess bureaucracy sounds the same on any planet. Where do I sign?" Sheppard asked.

"Not quite the same," McKay muttered. "My library banned all food or drink, even if you were hypoglycemic and could pass out from studying for too long."

"There will be signs to indicate a ban on food or drink and other rules when you arrive." Tep said solemnly, but Spencer could feel the sense of humor lurking underneath. Furthermore, he didn't sense any threat or deceit when the librarian issued their preliminary pass and told them the Gate address for Taho.

#

On Taho they arrived in the middle of an open plain. McKay looked toward the cliffs on one side, and Ronon tensed in a way that told Spencer he heard or scented something in that direction as well. A sign in front of them included an arrow pointing ahead and one version of the word "library" that Spencer had learned.

Sawasay said, "It says to stay on this path to reach the library."

"Does it say how far we have to walk?" McKay whined.

"No."

"I'd offer to carry your books," Sheppard said, "but I don't think they'll let us borrow any."

"They better have some juicy Ancient physics texts to make this worthwhile." McKay embarked on a rant about gaps in the science information the Ancients left behind that kept them all entertained for the ten minutes or so it took to reach the first small building.

An attendant stepped out from the shade of the thick-walled stone structure to say, "May I see your library pass?"

Sheppard produced it, and they were told, "Go to the first building and speak with the librarian on duty."

The first building was made with similar thick walls of light colored stone. It was much longer, although only one room wide. Stepping inside the first room of the narrow library, Spencer immediately appreciated the relief from the heat and glare outside. He also noted that both long walls were lined with windows. Those in direct sunlight—what Spencer guessed to be afternoon sunlight assuming it didn't get too much hotter on this planet—were covered with heavy shades. Those on the other side provided enough light to read by. Several of the standing desks and tables lined with benches also held glass objects that appeared to be unlit lamps.

The librarian who greeted them was elderly and tall, with skin weathered to an indeterminate shade and robes that hid any secondary sex characteristics. Spencer was glad he'd learned the gender-neutral pronoun nen and glad he no longer had to fill out reports guessing at age or race. Then he noticed the way the librarian glared at Dado and liked the person less.

"I am Librarian Yulip. May I see your library pass?" After a moment reading the pass, Yulip took some time looking each of them over. "So Atlantis is real and our message actually reached someone. I believed the Satedan book to be the work of a deluded mind. I'll have to adjust its classifications."

"Hi, I'm Colonel John Sheppard. Happy to meet you." Sheppard held himself less formally than upon meeting Librarian Tep, and Spencer wondered if that was good social intuition or the opposite. "We wouldn't mind taking a look at a copy of that book or anything else that might encourage people to attack Atlantis. We also need to talk about the person you charged with theft, because she and her family broke a few of our laws, too."

"I see. Do you have Jobara Tolaz and the stolen pages in your custody?"

"We do."

"Do you seek only a negotiation of terms and to look at one book?"

"We're curious and friendly people." Sheppard smiled his fake social smile. "We might be open to some sort of trade or information exchange."

"Well then, seat yourselves at the first table. I will send a runner for the book in question and join you shortly."

Spencer again sensed no deceit, although Yulip did not project the calm and friendly emotions his words implied. Spencer watched nen instruct a young person and assumed from Ronon's alertness beside him that the Tracker heard and approved of the message given.

Yulip joined them by standing at the head of their table, facing toward the door they'd come in. "I cannot offer you refreshments within this study area. However, there is fresh water and a suitable place to relieve yourselves outside the far door. If you have no such needs, shall we begin?"

"Sure," Sheppard said. "Do we need to wait for more of your council?"

"No, my authority should suffice for this small matter."

"It may be small to you," Sheppard said, switching to a more serious and military bearing, "but you provided information that led to three people attacking our world and seriously injuring a few of our people."

"We practice freedom of information. I feel no fault. Do you respect our claim to Jobara Tolaz and the stolen pages?"

"That depends. What are you planning to do with her?"

"Assuming she is still fit, the standard penalty for theft is three year's labor toward library maintenance. If the stolen pages have been folded, marked, crinkled torn or are otherwise returned in a form unfit to be rebound, the penalty for damaging the book would be an additional ten year's labor."

"Would Nadi or Dado face any penalties here?" Sheppard asked.

"Either or both of them could take on part of those thirteen years. Dado's reinstatement as an apprentice would be decided by Librarian Oun."

"Tell me, do you have some way of making sure people stay and serve their sentences?" Sheppard asked, still using his neutral tone but leaning forward to show real interest.

The librarian answered with equal seriousness, "The word 'sentences' does not mean to me what you seem to think it means."

After a brief blank moment, Sheppard said, "Sorry, we use the same word for two meanings in my language."

"How unfortunate," Yulip said.

Sheppard let the statement go unanswered except by a long pause and then continued as if no insult had been intended. "Yeah, well, what I meant was, can you make sure someone stays for those thirteen years of labor, however they're divided up?"

"Our Ring and the path leading to it are guarded at all times. Criminals are supervised during the day and locked up at night."

"And if we wanted some greater penalty added for Jobara's attack on us?"

"With proper documentation and agreement, you could trade further years of Jobara's labor for greater access to our resources." Yulip looked toward the door, "Here is a complete copy of the Satedan book about Atlantis as well as the copy with pages torn out. If you will show me your hands are clean, I will give you time to study both."

Spencer saw Dado lift his hands in the open book gesture at chest level and copied him. Others around the table followed his lead. After taking time to look at each set of hands, the librarian left them with the two books.

"Ronon and Spencer, I assume you're the best at reading Satedan here?" Sheppard asked.

Spencer glanced at Sawasay, but nen shook her head. While nen was picking up the language fast, Spencer still had better Satedan vocabulary and could read much faster, as far as he knew. He proceeded to work his way through the damaged copy of the book, and was pleased to note the only pages missing were the ones they already had. The history given regarding the Ancients and how they built Atlantis was not particularly accurate. There were detailed accounts of battles that made it clear the author or someone else had fought beside the Alterans and been privy to their secrets, assuming the accounts were true. Finally, the pages after those that had been stolen, gave a detailed accounting of many rooms and treasures to be found on Atlantis. Most of that matched what Spencer had seen or read about in earlier reports, but there were a few they should discuss. "I don't see any further threats to the city, but there are potential assets I'll need to ask someone else about. Now or later?"

"Later. You could photograph the pages," Sheppard answered quietly.

"I'd rather not without permission. My eidetic memory is fine for Satedan at this point."

"For the whole book?" McKay asked, fingers twitching for the electronics nen had been told not to display on this visit.

Spencer nodded. "Yes, but I'd rather not retype it."

"Looks safe enough," Ronon said. "But parts might be from an older story."

"Okay, we want to trade for access to any books about Atlantis, top priority. Are we okay with trading criminal labor for that?" Sheppard asked in a mock cheerful voice.

"Only if Dado is allowed to stay, can visit his parent, and is free to call us if conditions are too harsh." Spencer looked to the boy to confirm basic agreement on those terms.

Sheppard's face settled into a familiar and more relaxed expression. Spencer thought of it as fond exasperation, and had most often seen it directed at McKay, although both Spencer and Sawasay earned it occasionally. "Okay. How many years do we want served for their attack on Atlantis?"

Spencer turned to Dado. "I'd like to know what you think is fair."

Dado looked surprised to be asked. "What we did to you was worse than the theft and damaging of a book, so that must mean more than thirteen years each. I'll be too old to apprentice by then, so I don't really care how long you make my penalty."

"How long was your apprenticeship supposed to last?" Spencer asked.

"Until Librarian Oun judged me a fit librarian or sent me away. I would guess less than thirteen local years." The slight hope Dado felt at the question was obvious through Spencer's lowered shields. He had promised the youth a reduced punishment if he helped them, and Dado had done everything asked of him so far.

"How long is a local year anyway?" Sheppard asked.

"Thirteen here would be approximately fifteen point three of our years," McKay answered without pause or glancing at any device. Nen must have checked the planetary data when they first received the Gate address and done the calculations then or in nen head when asked.

"We could ask for thirteen each from the adults, contingent on no one else serving any of them, in addition to however they split the thirteen for the book. If Dado's reinstated as an apprentice, I think that would promise the best future outcome." Spencer looked to the others for their opinions.

Teyla spoke first, "I agree."

"We should make sure there's no time off for good behavior or other ways to reduce a sentence," McKay insisted. "If they have books in Ancient, I can make a prioritized list of what I want for the extra labor."

"Do you know what they have in Satedan?" Ronon spoke directly to Dado for the first time. The boy began to list topics, sub-categories, and the number of Satedan books in each from memory.

Sawasay said, "I'd like to know what they have about Gifts, if that's a topic or sub-category."

"It's a topic," Dado answered, seeming more in his element than Spencer had seen before. "I haven't learned those subtopics yet, but they have directories in various languages that also list how many titles are available in which other languages."

"We may need to trade more than 26 years labor for all that," Sheppard said.

"We have Satedan books they don't," Ronon said.

"And probably Ancient ones, if we want to print paper copies. I assume everything here is on paper?" McKay asked the table at large.

"Some documents are on clay tablets, animal hide, various plant materials—" Dado listed.

"Never mind." McKay covered nen ears dramatically, but Spencer could see nen hands weren't pressing down.

"There are some devices like those I've seen you use," Dado volunteered. "I was never allowed near them."

"Finally, this day might get interesting. Get the Librarian," McKay ordered Sheppard.

Librarian Yulip returned along with a much smaller figure in librarian robes. "Allow me to introduce Librarian Oun," Yulip said.

Oun made a small bow and the open book gesture, then walked to face Dado without a word.

Dado stood from the bench where he'd been sitting and half bowed half couched, making himself smaller than the tiny librarian in charge of his internship. When Dado made the open hand gesture, Oun produced a book from nen robes and place it into the offered hands.

That changed Spencer's whole perception of the gesture, especially as Dado lit up with hope and appreciation. Oun left without speaking, but Spencer recognized the Satedan book Dado had been handed. It was the one Doestossay had recited from, _Stories of Returning_.

#

Back in their own quarters that night, the Dex family gathered with friends for a new sort of reading party. Librarian Yulip's stern persona had broken down when he realized how many previously unknown works, both Ancient and Satedan, Atlantis had to trade. The terms for transferring Jobara and Nadi as prisoners and reinstating Dado as an apprentice with rights to communicate with his parents and Atlantis at will had been easy to arrange. Upon return to Atlantis, Dado had confronted his parents the moment they both looked his way from their cells. "As a Satedan, I demand consideration if you are of my people."

At first Jobara has sputtered about ingratitude and why he should never question their validity as Satedans. But Dado presented line after line of argument in formal language as to how his parents had misled him and undermined his education, apprenticeship, and reputation among allies. Spencer had to cover his mouth to hide a smile as he heard that part. Then Dado demanded that both parents give fair consideration to the agreement he had brokered. In the end, Jobara and Nadi had agreed that the arranged terms and years of service on Taho were fair. They waived any right to further mediation or trial and were escorted to the Library of Taho within the hour.

Sheppard's library privileges had been upgraded to allow borrowing books with more than one copy in the collection. Taking photos, scanning, and downloading electronic material were freely allowed, the same way any visitor would be allowed to hand transcribe a copy of any pages they requested.

Woolsey authorized a new project involving anyone in the city who could read Ancient to check for liabilities or useful information in Ancient texts or those referring to the Ancients or Atlantis. Spencer, in his role as Consulting Detective, had taken on oversight of texts about gifts. He'd also been put in charge of all Satedan texts when no one else, including Ronon, challenged him for the job.

But tonight was for enjoying whatever they could learn about gifts. Everyone so far identified with any gift had been invited, including Teyla and her family with their gifts for sensing Wraith. Sheppard, Beckett, Juarez, and Parrish had all brought food. McKay had arranged secure access to new digital files. Lorne came with Parrish, because he had earned all their trust and already knew enough about gifts.

All drinks and food were confined to the kitchen and dining area, but the open floorplan made it easy to hear anyone reading aloud or exclaiming over something they read in the living room.

"This book includes reanimating the dead under a list of sciences the Ancients studied," McKay exclaimed without looking up from the book nen held.

"You think they made something worse than the Wraith?" Beckett asked.

"Worse is subjective," McKay muttered, "but I'm appalled they listed that as a category of science. At best it might be a research topic under biology. They don't even call out astrophysics as separate from physics, and these are the people who created Stargates—"

Beckett was sitting close beside McKay on the loveseat and cut him off by saying, "They also designed artificial wombs."

Juarez called from the kitchen, "Clearly I need to brush up on reading Ancient so I can help with whatever we're adding to the infirmary, but what does any of this have to do with gifts?"

"The Ancients wrote about gifts in their texts about science and medicine," Sheppard said. He was sitting on McKay's other side, having sat down before the Head of Science squished into the middle of his favorite piece of furniture. Absolutely no one present was fooled when Sheppard complained about McKay invading his space. "While we're off subject anyway, I had a very interesting request from Sergeant Kelly Ambrose today. She's about to rotate back to SGC and volunteered to represent this command's interests as the Toyamas, Gardini, and nine others face justice there."

"The command on Earth gets to decide their punishments?" Sawasay asked.

"Did anyone figure out who planted the dried leaves?" Doestossay asked.

"Ambrose is leaving? The one who taught about kaddo bowrani and qabili palau?" Ronon asked.

"I believe she was greatly affected by Dr. Parrish speaking about his gifts and by the prejudices exposed since the greenhouse incident," Teyla spoke quietly as her son, Torren, had fallen asleep with half his body sprawled across her lap and half across Kanaan's. "Kelly spoke with me at length today about her experiences in a place called Afghanistan and her efforts at cultural education. I believe she could offer a voice of reason if anyone at SGC is susceptible to the biases our returnees espouse."

"What happened to restitution as part of justice?" Lokusay asked.

Teyla stroked her son's hair, and Spencer felt the hurt and rage beneath her calm exterior. "I believe we all heard how closed off Dr. Gardini and at least Dr. Shinobu Toyama were to any sharing of perspectives or form of amends. After Corporal Miller attacked Sawasay, I took it upon myself to visit each of the others who had posted hateful messages in the forum Drs. McKay and Kitayama uncovered. None were even willing to discuss their options with me, an 'alien.' It saddens me, but I feel they were never true members of the Atlantis community."

"I visited all the new prisoners as well," Lorne spoke from where he was seated beside Parrish on a large floor pillow. "I'm writing up full reports and recommendations." With a nod to Teyla he said, "We'll collect the needed statements and testimony from here, but none of these people are going to be rehabilitated on Atlantis, and we can't handle long term incarceration. I also spoke with Sergeant Ambrose, and I think she will represent our interests as well as I could, or better. She can also speak about gifts and local populations without any accusations of bias." Lorne twisted around to face Doestossay across the room, "As for the dried leaves and poisoning accusations, Gardini came up with the idea, but everyone on that message board knew, and at least two helped in person. The rest ran a smear campaign. I apologize. This should not have happened under my watch."

"Or mine," Sheppard said. McKay elbowed him in the ribs, affectionately.

Spencer's mind was racing with his own responsibilities, and how he might ethically use his gifts to detect such conspiracies or base hatreds in the future. when Parrish interrupted them all.

"I may have found the origin of the Jack and the Beanstalk story." The botanist looked even paler than usual, and Lorne leaned over his shoulder to see what he was reading.

"How good is your Ancient?" Sawasay asked.

"You said this book was about gifts. I looked at this picture and recognized the Ancient word for 'vine.'" Parrish turned the book outward so they all could see the picture of a vine that dwarfed the person standing next to it and appeared to reach up into clouds.

"Would you like me to translate it aloud, or read it and tell you in private?" Spencer asked.

"I don't think I'm up to hearing it right now." Parrish shook his head, staring down at the page again. "Could I leave it bookmarked and you can get back to me later?"

"Sure, whatever you want," Spencer said. He was pleased to see Lorne move in even closer, so he was pretty much blanketing Parrish's back as they continued to page through the book, stopping to look at pictures and possibly captions.

After an awkward pause, Lokusay called out from the kitchen, "I have created a steamed milk beverage flavored with green tea and white chocolate. Anyone who wants to try it should come to the kitchen now."

Half the room took a beverage and snack break en masse.

#

Later, when Lokusay, Doestossay, and Sawasay all grew quiet while huddled together around a book, Spencer used his tablet to snap a picture. "I'll send that to my mom," he whispered to Ronon.

His bond mate smiled at the sweet image but said, "You should take one of the whole room. Show your old team how popular you are."

Spencer shook his head feeling Ronon's amusement and something like mischief flow across their bond.

Ronon grabbed the tablet and took several shots of the room as others posed or made goofy faces.

"Now both of you come over here with us, like Sawasay's reading to us all," Lokusay called, even though nen hadn't seemed to be paying attention a moment before.

They caved to her will, and Beckett took the picture for them. Satedan writing was clearly visible with the book held up at a new angle, so Spencer knew he couldn't send that shot to anyone on Earth. Instead, he decided to ask Lorne about high quality photo printing and where best to buy a frame made locally. Then maybe he'd ask Ronon about where to hang the picture of the five of them sitting cozily together. At the same time, he could offer his own proposal—to make their shared family and his use of the Dex family name official.


End file.
